By Christina Nuckols

Politicians who have spent months frolicking along the campaign trail are just now confronting the reality that they are staring down the barrel of a financial crisis.

Some white-knuckled members of Congress never stopped freaking out about the “fiscal cliff.” One of them is Sen. Mark Warner.

The Virginia Democrat, who wasn’t up for re-election this year, has continued to work behind the scenes to build support for a deficit reduction deal. He’s trying to avert across-the-board spending cuts and tax increases with the potential to push the country back into recession. Those measures begin automatically on Jan. 1 unless a more rational alternative is adopted.

Read more.

Nuckols is the editorial page editor of The Roanoke Times.