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Warner

Since word got out that Virginia Sen. Mark Warner called former state Sen. Phil Puckett’s son to discuss possible employment options for Puckett’s daughter, Martha Puckett Ketron, both Warner and his spokesman have stressed two points repeatedly: (1) Warner and Puckett have been friends for two decades, and (2) Warner never offered Ketron a job.

Warner has been “a close friend of Phil Puckett and his family for nearly 20 years,” said a spokesman to The Washington Post, which broke the story. Furthermore, the senator “never did offer any job to Mrs. Ketron.” In a debate three days later, Warner said, “I’ve been a friend” of Puckett “for nearly 20 years. ... I reached out to his son to find out what was going on. ... We brainstormed about possible opportunities for his sister. ... Let me make clear: I did not offer her a job.”

A couple of days later, Warner again told the Lynchburg News-Advance, “I called a family friend of 20 years. But again the key point here is I didn’t offer anyone a job.”

Why is that the key point — and why does Warner keep harping on it?