There are governors running for president, then there are more-than-governors eyeing the race.
Put former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore in the second category, a Republican who won with strong black support in a key swing state in 1997, enacted the tax cut he promised while adding 4,000 teachers, and became an expert on foreign policy and terrorism in the Sept. 11 era.
“The heart of the message is that I am a former governor. I’ve run a state, in fact I’ve run a swing state,” he told Secrets. Plus, he added, “I bring to the table a foreign policy experience” built on several international policy trips and the chairmanship of the so-called Gilmore Commission, which reviewed U.S. capabilities for responding to terrorist and weapons of mass destruction threats during the Clinton and Bush administrations.
AP Photo
It would be his second try at the White House, running but not getting far in 2008. That experience gave him a different perspective on a bid.
“Two thousand eight taught me that this should not be rushed, that to leap in too soon invites the press to be critical very early,” he said. Instead, he is making visits to New Hampshire and Iowa to discuss issues. He said if voters and the media take notice, as many are, he will jump in.
What’s more, unlike the other Republicans eyeing the campaign, Gilmore, a former Army intelligence officer, already has a multi-point economic plan built on tax cuts and a “third way” foreign policy to rebuild America’s power in the world partly by strengthening the economy.
“Why are we considering it? Because I think I bring these assets to the table that are not present in the field,” said the Richmond native before speaking to college Republicans at James Madison University. He added, “I care about our country and I see a need.”
A potential bid could put him up against American political royalty, Jeb Bush and Hillary Clinton. He shrugs: “We ought to be cautious about turning the Republic into a politics of dynastic families. One of my predecessors in the governor’s office was Thomas Jefferson and he really believed in a robust Republic of regular people and I think that’s a concern.”
He also raised the issue of big money in a race, especially from Bush. At JMU in Harrisonburg, Va., he had this warning:
“Jeb Bush has a great name and a lot of money … I guess we’ve arrived at a point in American history and the American republic when you can buy it [the presidency].”
On issues, he has presented a clear and detailed path.
His foreign policy was recently published in The National Interest. He wrote, “We need a new and active foreign policy to shape events and the course of history. This requires full engagement of all of the elements of American power: diplomacy, economic power, military force and the great power of our ideals.”
Domestic policy is focused on the economy, not social issues. As head of Free Congress Foundation, he has pushed a tax reform package titled “The Growth Code,” shown below.
“I do not believe the economy is good enough,” Gilmore told Secrets. He said his Growth Code “helps regular people.”
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
