WARNER ADMITS HE'D LIKE WALKING TO THE OFFICE

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 2, 1992                   TAG: 9202020136
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-9   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
WARNER ADMITS HE'D LIKE WALKING TO THE OFFICE
U.S. Sen. John Warner, speaking Saturday to the General Assembly, didn't step around the possibility that he might run for governor in 1993.
Warner told lawmakers at a special commemorative session at the restored Colonial Capitol that one of his perks in Congress is getting his own parking space, and he drives to work every day.
Warner then turned to Gov. Douglas Wilder, who introduced him as the session's guest speaker, and asked, "What is it like, governor, to just leave your front door and walk to work?"
The question brought a round of hearty laughter from legislators and guests attending the once-every-four-years commemorative session in this city that served as Virginia's seat of government from 1699 to 1780.
Warner, in his third Senate term, has said he is considering a bid for governor although he is inclined to remain in the Senate. He has said he intends to make a decision early next year.
A recent poll showed that Warner would be the favorite in a race against Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, the Democratic front-runner who sat behind Warner as he spoke.
The hall of the House of Burgesses was packed with lawmakers, their wives, members of the Virginia Supreme Court and other dignitaries, including former Govs. Gerald Baliles and Linwood Holton.
In his address, Warner said Virginia laid the foundation for the principles of freedom and democracy that are sweeping across former communist nations.
"Those same seeds once planted here are now growing throughout Eastern Europe and the commonwealth of republics of the former Soviet Union," he said.
According to Warner, the world is witnessing a renaissance of Virginia-style democracy in "places we never dared even dream it was possible." But he said it would be a mistake to think that dangers no longer exist.
Warner warned of "tremendous voices of dissent" in Congress who want to cut U.S. defense spending far more than President Bush proposes.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB