Jim Gilmore- Victory through Divisiveness

By: James Martin
Published On: 11/17/2007 12:00:54 PM


An interesting, but not terribly surprising summary of Virginia's Senate race can be found on The Fix written by the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza (most likely Senate seats to switch party):

1. Virginia: Start warming up the bus. This one is all over. Barring some sort of unforeseen political catastrophe, Mark Warner will be the next senator from the commonwealth. Rep. Tom Davis's decision not to run for the Senate leaves former Gov. Jim Gilmore as the almost-certain nominee. And after the results of last week's state elections in Virginia, it's hard to even find a Republican who thinks Gilmore has a chance. (Previous ranking: 1)

But apparently Jim Gilmore thinks he can win- by playing up his extreme partisanship that divided even the Republican Party and by criticizing Mark Warner for working with Republicans in the General Assembly for "consensus" solutions to Virginia's problems (SERIOUSLY- HIS WORDS!):

A Gilmore-Warner Senate contest would not only be a partisan brawl but also would offer voters a sharp choice between a Republican with an appetite for confrontation and a Democrat who prefers consensus.

I think its an excellent strategy on Gilmore's part to play up and highlight why Warner is Virginia's most popular elected official- I think a good Gilmore campaign slogan would be: "Damn Good Government, Full Speed Ahead with Gilmore".

UPDATE: Teddy has a great one in the comments section: "Damn Good Government! Retrograde with Gilmore" (What do people think about having a Raising Kaine slogan contest for the Gilmore campaign? :p)

UPDATE 2: I think a particularly good quote about Jim Gilmore's divisiveness comes from REPUBLICAN State Senator Ken Stolle: "I think Jim Gilmore should run because I think he should be exposed for the fraud that he is," said Stolle, who remains bitter about that year's tax policy clash that he said Gilmore made unnecessarily personal. "He (Gilmore) drove a wedge between the House and the Senate, and he drove a stake into the heart of the party," said Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.


Comments



Damn Good Government! Retrograde with Gilmore?? (Teddy - 11/17/2007 12:05:10 PM)


Oh nice one! (James Martin - 11/17/2007 12:06:37 PM)


Sorry, "Gilmore" and "victory"... (Kindler - 11/17/2007 12:35:12 PM)
...do not belong in the same sentence!


Haha- Good Point (James Martin - 11/17/2007 1:06:10 PM)
I'm very open to suggestions on a post title :)


No Income Tax (Robley Jones - 11/17/2007 1:08:10 PM)
The scheme could have each state reimburse the federal government for taxes not paid by its residents.


Gilmore campaign slogan (Ingrid - 11/17/2007 1:51:09 PM)
No More Taxes!


Bush thought he was saying No More Texas... (dsvabeachdems - 11/20/2007 2:13:48 PM)
thus the look W is giving him in the photograph.


Hahahahaha! (DanG - 11/17/2007 2:01:21 PM)
"I think Jim Gilmore should run because I think he should be exposed for the fraud that he is," said Stolle, who remains bitter about that year's tax policy clash that he said Gilmore made unnecessarily personal. "He (Gilmore) drove a wedge between the House and the Senate, and he drove a stake into the heart of the party," said Stolle, R-Virginia Beach.

And you people wonder why I liked Ken Stolle. :)



Pride (legacyofmarshall - 11/17/2007 4:04:51 PM)
We cannot take this election for granted, but it really gives me a warm feeling inside when I see Virginia as the #1 Democratic pickup in the Senate on most political analysts' lists.


When's the VRP going to get its act together? (bamboo - 11/17/2007 4:34:22 PM)
Look, I'm delighted that Mark Warner is running and at one level happy too that Virginia Republicans don't have a comeptitive candidate. But it's hard to take too much pleasure in seeing Gilmore humiliated next year because it shows once again that his party still doesn't have a clue about what's good for this state. When will the diehard reactionaries and head-in-the-sand pols in the GOP give way to competent and progressive leadership? Or has that become an oxymoron for them?


proof that the world is f--ed (pvogel - 11/17/2007 5:53:15 PM)
Jim Gilmore , ex gov.  of Virginia.
That man does not deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as most other ex govs. of our state


Gilmore Virginia's Next Senator??? (tvhost - 11/18/2007 12:11:56 AM)
Yeah Right....Tell me another one... I see the Republicans lining up to support Warner now like they did in 2001 when he ran again Mark Early for Governor of Va.. No one wanted Early for Governor.. No one is going to want Gilmore for Senator....


The Gilmore Gang: Couldn't Shoot Straight Then... (cycle12 - 11/19/2007 3:19:32 AM)
Out of ammo now!

Steve