The politics of moving an aircraft carrier named Bush

The Hill.com has taken a look at the dispute over shifting an aircraft carrier from Virginia to Florida in political terms -- as a battle within the Democratic Party and make-or-break moments in political careers.

It's an interesting subtext to what some people think, naively, is purely a matter of national security.

The carrier battle -- the Navy says it wants to move a carrier to Florida's Naval Station Mayport, which lost its aircraft carrier when the Navy retired the aged and worn-out USS John F. Kennedy -- does have the potential for great political intrigue.

Has Virginia lost its military influence with the impending retirement of Republican Sen. John Warner?

Can Sen. Jim Webb, a secretary of the Navy during a Republican administration, take Warner's place as Virginia's voice on the military?

Is the state actually better off (militarily) being represented by Webb and another Democrat, Sen.-elect Mark Warner, now that a Democrat is moving into the White House?

Ditto in the 2nd Congressional District, where Democrat Glenn Nye is succeeding Republican Thelma Drake?

And what about all those Florida connections? The carrier apparently at issue is the George H.W. Bush, which is still in the yard in Newport News. H.W.'s sons -- one a lame-duck commander-in-chief, one a former Florida governor -- would seem to line up in Florida's favor.

But then, both Florida and Virginia did go blue this year. Will one or the other be punished? Rewarded?

A side note: The aircraft carrier dispute came up when Rep. Rob Wittman from the 1st District came in to meet with the DP editorial board prior to the election. He had a couple of interesting things to say on the topic. (I sat in on the conversation.)

One was, "we cannot lose to Mayport." It wasn't clear whether he meant to say "we cannot afford to lose" or "there's no way we will lose."

But he also said he'd heard from another lawmaker that "the president said to a contingent from Florida, 'We're going to have a carrier in Florida.'"

That sound ominous, from a Virginia perpective.

And he said something that astounded me -- because he actually seemed to believe it. Wittman said he didn't think politics would be the deciding factor.

I'm afraid all I could manage as a follow-up question was, "Really?" He shrugged and nodded in the affirmative.

As it turns out, the only answer to that question, as Wittman perhaps implied, is, "We'll see."

Here's a link to The Hill story.