Needless to say, people are skeptical of the family explanation (at least a family-exclusive explanation).

E-mail:

Subject: time with family vs. money and polls
Rich:
…Talking to some Dems today I think Warner’s made a more simple calculation, money and polls. He’s raised a lot of money but you can’t raise the money needed to beat the Hillary juggernaut. More importantly his polling is well behind everyone….
This way her preserves himself (and his money) to inherit the mantle for 2012 if she proves to be unelectable. I don’t doubt that he’s sincere in not wanting to put your family through a bruising primary with a Democratic icon. But if had the money lead and a lot of buzz and the Bidens/Dodds of the world as his only competition, it’d be a different story.