U.S. Sen. Mark Warner visited the Gazette-Journal last Thursday during a whirlwind tour of the state that included stops in Richmond, Norfolk, Roanoke and Yorktown.

Tired from all the travel but congenial nonetheless, Warner sat back and enjoyed zucchini bread from Gloucester’s Wild Rabbit Café as he discussed his views on the situation in Syria, as well as other international and domestic topics.

As a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, Warner was briefed on Syria last Tuesday and Wednesday, and he said he had seen signs that Speaker of the House John Boehner and other key Republican legislators weren’t going to play politics on the issue.

While he’s been concerned that the upcoming debates on Syria might "turn into some kind of political food fight" and make America look bad, he said he’s been pleased at the level of seriousness expressed by most of his colleagues.

"How (we) members conduct ourselves in the debate is going to be im...