The view from Richmond

How Mark Warner's Milwaukee speech was portrayed in the Richmond Times-Dispatch in his home state's capital:

MILWAUKEE -- Former Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner brought his presidential message of moderation Saturday night to a Democratic crowd warmed up by the liberal message of Wisconsin Sen. Russell D. Feingold.

Feingold called for the censure of President Bush and the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

Warner, who spoke after Feingold, said Democrats cannot win the presidential election in 2008 with a liberal message that limits Democratic victory possibilities to a few states.

Both men are considering seeking the Democratic nomination to run for president in 2008.

Both said nice things about each other -- at one point Warner said he would trade both of Virginia's Republican senators for one Russ Feingold -- while Feingold praised Warner's leadership as governor.

But in interviews with reporters, Warner said he does not believe President Bush should be censured. The best way to punish Bush would be to elect a Democratic Congress this fall, he said.

And while calling the war in Iraq "bungled," Warner said there should be no timetable for withdrawal of American troops.

Feingold is leading a move to censure Bush for what he says is illegal wiretapping of Americans. He has picked up little support. About two dozen Wisconsin municipalities voted last week to bring the troops home...

Warner gave essentially the same speech he gave in Springfield, Mo., a night earlier.

He called the Bush administration incompetent and assailed its fiscal policies as irresponsible but mainly stuck to a recitation of his four-year stint as Virginia's governor from 2002 to 2006...

Warner's brand of moderation appeared to be better received in Missouri.

Wisconsin Democrats praised Warner's speech, which concentrated on education and health-care reform, but rejected suggestions that the Democratic Party should steer a more moderate course.

The paper also noted that Bob Friebert, a Milwaukee lawyer (the paper said "businessman") is Warner's guy in Wisconsin. Friebert said he met Warner when he was on the Democratic National Committee and Warner was working for the committee in the early 1980s.