Brian recently sat down to talk with Hugh Lessig of The Daily Press about the growing excitement among Virginia Democrats and races to watch in the coming elections.

RICHMOND – When it comes to speculating about future elections in Virginia and who’s running for what, the name of Del. Brian Moran is always in the mix.

The Alexandria Democrat chairs his party’s caucus in the House of Delegates. An attorney, he could easily be a candidate for either attorney general or governor in 2009. He will turn 48 this month.

Personable and still bearing a trace of his New England accent, the native of Massachusetts is a major player in the General Assembly.

Q: Among your first jobs growing up were bagging groceries, working construction and being a bartender. What job best prepared you for politics?

A: For politics? It was bartending. You met a variety of personalities and discussed issues. It taught me to be a good listener. It was a restaurant by the name of Ramparts. I was in law school. I worked on Capitol Hill Tuesday and Thursday, then on Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays, I would work as a bartender to put myself through law school. It honed my listening skills.

It was a lot of fun. You met people from all walks of life – from the Georgetown law school grads to the janitors. They would all come in for sports and cold beer.

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We need to work on those issues where we have found success, focusing on those quality-of-life issues, education, health care, work-force training, public safety – a centrist approach to issues.

That was Gov. Mark Warner’s success, Gov. Tim Kaine’s success and the success of the Democratic resurgence. A great deal of that was attributed to those issues.

We’re on the offensive. We have to be a little bolder than our opponents. We’re in the minority, but we’re looking to pick up seats.

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I think the Senate has a very good opportunity. In the House, we’re looking to pick up seats. We’ve been able to pick up seats each successive election since 2001, since I’ve become chairman of the caucus. We haven’t been able to put a finger on the number, but we have candidates that are deserving of support.