Posted on 07/14/2007 1:12:59 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Former Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III is dropping his underdog bid for the Republican presidential nomination today, his top strategist, Dick Leggitt, told Politico.
Gilmore had offered himself as "the Reagan conservative" in a field that has left many Republican activists dissatisfied. He is the first GOP candidate to leave the race.
Other candidates commanded much more cash and attention, keeping Gilmore a distant also-ran. Financial reports due tomorrow showed he had little hope of cracking the top tier.
In his successful race for a four-year term for Virginia governor in 1997, he showed the popular appeal of fiscal conservativism with his "no car tax" pledge to reduce the commonwealth's personal property tax.
While in office, he served briefly as chairman of the Republican National Committee.
Gilmore is a lawyer who has made counterterrorism his specialty since leaving office. The son of a butcher, he rose as an outsider in the clubby world of Richmond law, becoming state attorney general.
Gilmore was running?
Uh... Who?
I don’t know anything about him. Is he a good guy?
So begins, the winnowing out of the wheat from the chaff.
TS
sorry, best I could come up with. "He was running?" and "Who?" were already taken.
Glad the field is narrowing a bit.
Tommy Thompson will likely be the next to drop after the Ames Straw Poll.
I had no idea he was running and I actually follow this stuff (maybe not as closely as I thought).
Gilmore is a good guy, and a conservative. He just didn’t gain any traction. This is a que for Brownback, Huckabee, etc. It’a also a que for Fred Thompson - get in already!
“I guess if Warner opts out of the Senate, Gilmore will step in.”
I don’t think Gilmore could beat Mark Warner in Virginia.
Thanks Jim.
Good point. Exactly 6 months away from the Iowa Caucuses.
Gilmore wasn’t effective but he is a great great man
Warner ain’t interested, apparently.
I’ve been digging and digging to find the FreeRepublic Gilmorebots to ping this to and I’ve determined they don’t exist.. Even here, where you can find groups who would support nutters like Ron Paul, it is hard to find Gilmore supporters..
Thailand?
Oh, and I was just about to start paying attention to the fact that someone with his name was possibly running. What bad timing.
Let’s hope so, and I also hope that many other conservatives seriously consider running for this seat just in case either Gilmore decides not to run or if Gilmore’s run turns out to be not impressive enough for conservatives! We truly need some very decent conservatives to run for as many political offices as possible throughout the U.S.
Gilmore is good ideologically. But hes about as exciting was watching moss grow when he speaks. CHARISMA is important these days of video media.
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