Gilmore for President

As many of you have probably seen, the RTD is reporting that Jim Gilmore has formed an exploratory committee to run for president. Alot of blogs are weighing in on this today.

I personally think Gilmore will have a great shot at getting the GOP nomination if he can raise a decent amount of money and get a staff ad organization together quickly. He has military and national security creditials as well as name ID from being RNC Chairman. He is also one of few people who will do what they say when running for office. He is also a social conservative that is not going to be someone who will only focus on social issues; which is something the GOP badly needs. Finally, we need someone to bring the business community back to being solidly behind the GOP by actually being fiscally responsible. Jim Gilmore can do that.

Many people are questioning his ability to win when he "botched" the car tax repeal and put us into "dire financial straits". The problem with that is that he was just unlucky like any other executive who is in office when a recession hits. He cannot be blamed for the tech bubble burst, which led to the state's decline in revenue. All the while, he still tried to repeal the car tax; because thats what he said he was going to do. Not only that, it was pushed in the hopes it would help spur a better economy by doing so.

Futhermore, the same people who question Gilmore's abilities think Mark Warner would be a legitamite presidential candidate. Why? All he did was raise taxes and spending. Anyone can do that.

I think if Jim Gilmore can get some traction early, he will make this a very interesting race for the GOP presidential nomination.