Two scolding online posts by the president of the Arlington Young Democrats on Monday gave Virginia Republicans an opportunity to attack Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-Va.) as elitist and out of touch.

Max Burns, president of the Young Democrats, said his group intended to request a meet-and-greet event with Warner, who is running for reelection and will face Republican Ed Gillespie on Nov. 4.

But the group’s request was understood by the Warner campaign team to be a request to hold a fundraiser on the candidate’s behalf, Burns said. Told that the goal would be to raise $25,000, Burns concluded — incorrectly, he said later — that the group would have to pony up a $25,000 fee in order for Warner to come and speak.

“@MarkWarner — @ArlingtonYDs would’ve loved to have you chat with us about VA’s young professionals, but it came with a $25,000 price tag,” Burns, a strategic communications consultant with the Glover Park Group, tweeted shortly after noon.

The Virginia Virtucon , a Republican blog, quickly retweeted the comment and issued a mocking statement .

“The Arlington Young Democrats invited Sen. Mark Warner to speak to them. You know, because they’re the kind of people that’ll knock on doors, make phone calls, and generally fight in trenches to get people like Mark Warner elected,” the blog said. “The Mark Warner campaign said sure — if you can raise $25,000.”

But Warner does not charge for meet-and-greet events, campaign spokesman David Turner said: “Absolutely not.” He said members of the Arlington Young Democrats were among the young professionals at a free event with Warner in July.

“As Max has stated, this was a simple misunderstanding on his end and we look forward to continue working with the Arlington Young Democrats,” Turner said.

Burns, in a phone interview, blamed the miscommunication on “the nuances of communicating over social media.” He initially vented on Facebook as well, writing: “Disheartening to compare Mark Warner’s great statements about the importance of young people in politics with the $25,000 price tag his team attached to an appearance in front of the Arlington Young Democrats. That’s as much as some of our members make in a year.”

Hours later, Burns was busy backtracking. “If I have to own this, then I have to. I’ll suck up the fact that we did this wrong,” he said.

“It’s a misunderstanding that’s being resolved. The comment was never intended to call out Senator Warner, who has been a friend to the Arlington Young Democrats.”