Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner just wrapped up the keynote address at the Democratic National Convention.

If Warner’s speech was any indication, it’s easy to see why political observers regard keynote speakers as the up-and-comers of their parties.

Warner delivered an accessible and common-sense speech that made a meal out of some of the Democratic Party’s most organic issues: Jobs and the economy. Health care generally, and children’s health care specifically. Government spending.

Government spending?

Yes, and that’s why Warner, a Democrat, became one of the most popular governors in the red Commonwealth of Virginia: He isn’t afraid to part with his party when the party has parted with its people.

Democrats can’t argue with his results. If it wasn’t for Virginia’s one-term limit on its chief executives, he would have been introduced tonight as Gov. Mark Warner—if not tomorrow night as vice presidential nominee Mark Warner.

It’s hard not to think about what the presidential race would look like right now if Warner was the nominee, if he had run for the White House as so many had wanted him to do. Yes, I know he would have had to take on the Clinton machine, but for argument’s sake, let’s assume that he would have. Virginia and its 13 electoral votes would be a foregone conclusion for the Democrats. Georgia would be blue. Florida would be blue, thanks to the conservative Democrats in the Panhandle. Tennessee, and perhaps North Carolina, would be in play. John McCain would at least have to defend Texas.

Sure, he’s probably have to worry about a third-party candidacy and the liberal votes that would peel off in perennially blue states like Massachusetts, Michigan and California. But the Democratic Party has a pretty good track record when it’s nominated Southern governors for the presidency; one has to wonder why they don’t realize that—and act on it.

Warner is running for the U.S. Senate this year; thanks to his successful record as governor, he’s likely to ride big numbers into the Capitol. Look for him to be a regular on Sunday morning talk shows and cable news outlets. He’ll be working to become a familiar face.

If Barack Obama wins in November, Mark Warner will be the odds-on frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.

If Obama loses, well ... Hillary Clinton will have another formidable underdog waiting to spoil her White House dreams.