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Va.'s Gilmore To Explore Bid For President
By Michael
D. ShearWashington Post Staff
Writer
Wednesday, December 20, 2006; Page A05
Former Virginia governor James S. Gilmore III has decided to form a committee to examine running for president in 2008, casting himself as a fiscal conservative with executive experience and national security credentials.
In an interview yesterday, Gilmore said his candidacy would fill a void among Republican presidential hopefuls, who he believes are not dedicated enough to important conservative principles.
"It is my intention to run" for the presidency, he said. "There is no committed conservative in this race who can put together a national campaign. I can do that."
Gilmore, 57, said he plans to form an official exploratory committee next month and will make a "swift decision" about a full campaign in the weeks after.
"I don't have to evolve at all. My record is clear," he said. "I think it represents not just a segment of the Republican Party, but of the entire country."
Gilmore won the Virginia governorship in 1997 after achieving a reputation for law-and-order toughness as the state's attorney general and by promising to end the state's hated annual tax on cars. During his one term, he waged a bitter fight to save his tax cuts despite worsening economic times. Virginia governors are barred from serving consecutive terms.
His never-give-up style attracted the attention of President Bush, who made him chairman of the Republican National Committee for a year in January 2001. Before the Sept. 11 attacks, Gilmore chaired a national commission on terrorism, warning that the nation was not ready for attacks.
But Gilmore's tenure in the RNC was rocky as he feuded with some of Bush's top advisers. And Democrats and some Republicans blamed his tax cut fervor for the state's financial difficulties in the years after he left office.
Former Virginia governor Mark R. Warner (D) spent a year courting a national audience but decided against a 2008 presidential run several months ago. Sen. George Allen (R), another former Virginia governor, had been planning a White House bid before his razor-thin reelection loss last month.
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Photo AP Sen. Clinton opposes troop surge in Iraq
AP - Mon Dec 18, 5:13 PM ET
NEW YORK - Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday she would not support a short-term increase in U.S. troop presence in Iraq unless it was part of a more comprehensive plan to stabilize the country.
Virginia - -US - Iraq - Military - Terrorism - "Gaffes Make Allen Vulnerable to Hard-Charging Webb in Va.." ... "Less than a year ago, there was little indication that Virginia Republican George Allen would face much of a race in his bid for a second Senate term. With Democrats then struggling to find a credible challenger, Allen was widely expected to be able to spend a good part of this year in other states to prospect a possible bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination." ... "But the emergence of a tough-minded Democratic nominee in author and former Navy Secretary Jim Webb, and some self-inflicted damage on Allen’s part, have combined to keep Allen close to home — and thrust him into a contest that looks increasingly competitive. As a result, CQPolitics.com has changed its rating on the race to Leans Republican from Republican Favored." ... "Webb, a decorated Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War, served as Navy secretary under President Ronald Reagan and is the author of several best-selling non-fiction books and novels, many with military themes. He maintained his Republican Party allegiances right through 2000, when he favored George W. Bush for president — and Allen in his successful bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Charles S. Robb." ... "But Webb turned sharply because of his strong opposition to Bush’s decision as president to launch the war in Iraq, a conflict that Webb viewed as unnecessary to defend U.S. national security and a diversion of personnel and resources away from the pursuit of the terrorists who actually staged the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States." -By Greg Giroux -CQPolitics.com
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