Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) made national news last week when he asked President Bush to start bringing the troops home in time for Christmas. But of more importance locally has been the continued speculation as to whether Warner would run for another term in 2008, and if not, who would replace him.

By way of FreeRide, we find out today that yesterday the Post’s Sunday Fix briefly noted that Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) has been making more and more moves towards announcing a run for Warner’s seat, should the senior senator choose to resign. Apparently Davis has been putting together a stealth campaign team, re-connecting with old political hands in preparation for a September announcement from Warner.

And we couldn’t be happier. Party politics and baggage aside, Davis has long been a sound and consistent voice for two issues of vital importance to the District — voting rights and Metro. Along with D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Davis has championed District voting rights like few others. In fact, the current legislation that was passed by the House in April and is currently awaiting a Senate vote was his idea, and it has gotten us further than we’ve been in years. (Warner, on the other hand, voted against the measure in committee.) As for Metro, it was Davis who introduced legislation that would give Metro $1.5 billion in federal funds over 10 years for much-needed capital improvements. In many ways, Davis reflects the changes occuring in Northern Virginia — though he remains a Republican, he’s more likely to work towards regional compromises on key challenges than simply toe the party line.

Obviously, we’re jumping ahead of ourselves here. Davis surely has his pitfalls, and it’s not even set that Warner will retire and that Davis will get to run. But based on a narrow set of issues of importance to the District, he’d be a good candidate to replace Warner.