There has been much discussion this week about the "hyperpartisanship" that often paralyzes Washington.

While Senator Warner has been outspoken about his disappointment in the lack of bipartisanship in Washington, he continues to search for common ground and commonsense solutions.

In his first year in the Senate, Senator Warner worked with more than a dozen of his freshman colleagues on a package of health care amendments aimed at reducing the overall cost of health care that ultimately received bipartisan support. And throughout his first year, Senator Warner collaborated with Republican Senator Bob Corker on a number of issues on the Senate Banking Committee

In a column in today’s Washington Post, Ruth Marcus referenced Senator Warner’s efforts:

The optimist in me would like to see Bayh's departure as the wake-up call the Senate needs. The optimist takes heart in the prospect next year of a larger cadre of centrist Republicans with political incentives to compromise rather than obstruct. The optimist looks at Virginia Democrat Mark Warner and Tennessee Republican Bob Corker trying again on financial regulation, Oregon Democrat Ron Wyden and New Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg gearing up on tax reform -- and thinks: Someone's got to keep at this.

"The forecast for this country is bleak if people are just going to say that the dysfunction has been institutionalized," Warner told me. "I just can't accept that."