For years, Democratic Senator Mark Warner of Virginia nurtured a wonky, centrist brand as a businessman-turned-politician whose great skill was at deal-making with his partisan adversaries.

The former governor arrived in Washington two years ago — at exactly the wrong moment. His party had seized control of the White House and Congress, and were in no mood to compromise. Republicans decided to say no to everything. Mr. Warner found few takers for his style of moderation.

Now, Mr. Warner believes the tables have turned. With Republicans in charge of the House and more numerous in the Senate, he is eager to join with a handful of like-minded Democrats and Republicans to nudge his Washington colleagues toward the political center.

As lawmakers returned to Washington after the midterm elections this week, Mr. Warner inserted himself in the middle of their most contentious debate: what to do about the Bush-era tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of the year. He proposed a compromise that would allow the tax cuts to expire only for the wealthiest Americans – as Democrats want – but would use the savings for business tax breaks for the next two years, something he thinks could help promote job growth, as well as appeal to Republicans.

So far, he’s not willing to talk specifics about the reaction he’s getting, other than to say there’s been “real interest” among some of his Democratic colleagues. Mr. Warner said he was scheduled to meet with a Republican senator Thursday night to present his idea.

“At some point, if you keep reaching out one of two things is going to happen,” Mr. Warner said in an interview with The Caucus. “You are going to find a partner, or the American people are going to be see who’s not willing to find a solution.”

Warner’s efforts are in line with the prescriptions being urged by Third Way, a centrist think tank with ties to the Obama administration. Matt Bennett, the group’s vice president for communications, said a recent report by the group demonstrates that the voters whom Obama lost in 2010 were moderates, not liberals.

“We don’t know the extent to which Republicans are going to be willing to negotiate or make deals,” Mr. Bennett said. “But we know the public expects and demands that people behave like adults and make progress.”

But despite that, there are reasons to think that Mr. Warner’s efforts may be in vain during the next two years. He worries that moderate Republican senators concerned about primary challenges from conservative Tea Party activists will reject compromise and collaboration.

And it’s already clear that many of the more battle-weary Democrats in the Senate are skeptical of Mr. Warner’s entreaties to work with the other party.

“A lot of the senior members have said, ‘Oh, Warner, this is just going to be politics for the next couple of years.’” Mr. Warner said in the interview. “But that’s just unacceptable. If both sides did this sort of retreat to our corners, it would be a bad day for our country.”

As he enters his third year in the Senate, Mr. Warner says the budget deficit is a key area that is ripe for compromise and negotiation. Proposals to improve the country’s competitiveness might find some common thinking, too, he said.

As governor, Mr. Warner succeeded in passing a tax reform plan that included tax increases through a Republican-dominated legislature. He did it by cajoling 18 Republican moderates to peel away from their party to vote for the package.

“It wasn’t like the 18 Republicans said yes the first time I asked. Or the second time or the third time or the seventy-second time,” he said. “I’m pretty dogged at this.”

But it will take more than Mr. Warner’s toothy smile to convince lawmakers to move away from their dug-in positions on the tax issue. In a statement issued Thursday night, Jim Manley, a spokesman for Harry Reid of Nevada, the Senate majority leader, reiterated the Democratic talking point.

“Senator Reid’s top priority is to permanently extend tax cuts for middle-class families and small businesses,” said Mr. Manley, who later that evening announced he is leaving Mr. Reid’s staff after two decades in the Senate. “That is the goal we are working toward, but we will need Republican support to do so.”

Mr. Warner said his proposal acknowledges the concerns of both sides. Democrats are right, he said, when they say that extending tax breaks to to top earners would add to the deficit, something the Republicans claim to want to avoid. And Republicans are right, Mr. Warner said, about not wanting to raise any taxes during a fragile recovery.

Under his proposal, Democrats would be able to claim victory by permanently extending tax cuts for the middle class, but not for the rich. And Republicans could argue they had successfully lobbied for business tax cuts.

Mr. Bennett of Third Way praised Mr. Warner’s proposal as “very smart. If there’s some kind of compromise that doesn’t kick the can down the road, it will be something like that. Genuinely, both sides are giving up something and both sides are getting something.”

But at least publicly, most lawmakers appear to be leaning towards temporarily extending tax cuts for everyone, a solution that Mr. Warner derides as simply kicking the problem down the road. He says it will be too easy to keep kicking forever, turning a temporary problem into a permanent one.

Will it happen? Mr. Warner is not sure.

“One thing I’ve seen in Washington, unfortunately,” he said. “Everybody has an absolute, firm postion — until they don’t.”