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 the Washington Examiner. 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.
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, adding, “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.”
NORQUIST’S SECRET: WRITE JUST 3 HOURS A DAY
Tax foe Grover Norquist has another book out, one that should excite conservatives by advocating for fairer taxes and claiming that the IRS attack on Tea Party groups helped President Obama win re-election.
But it’s the acknowledgements in End the IRS Before It Ends Us that has the attention of fellow writers, especially his trick to producing sparkling prose: Write just three hours a day.
The president of Americans for Tax Reform said he rose at 4 a.m., and wrote in his office from 5 a.m.-8 a.m.
“My ability to write and feel that I am doing quality work lasts three hours,” he told the Examiner. “More than three hours, I get tired and I write more aggressively. You know, ‘You stupid idiots!’ Instead of, it could be done better.”
Norquist attributed his practice to the popular late-1800s writer Anthony Trollope who once said, “Three hours a day will produce as much as a man ought to write.”
POLLSTER SAYS GOP OVER OBAMA’S ‘MY WAY’ ATTITUDE
President Obama likely will never win over a majority of Republican voters, partly because most have never liked his “my way or the highway” approach to them and their leaders.
GOP pollster Whit Ayres said the president’s attitude is even affecting what Republicans want in a potential presidential candidate. Instead of their own stonewalling president, they would like one who will be less partisan and work with Democrats.
“Certainly Republican voters want to change the aspect that they perceive as, ‘I won, you lost, get over it. We’re doing things my way, and if you don’t want to do things my way I’m not really interested in talking to you,’ ” he said of how they look at Obama’s style.
As a result, Ayres said, advising potential Republican presidential candidate Sen. Marco Rubio, “they are looking for someone who can craft a message that will address the challenges of 21st century in a way that is not as overtly partisan as this president did.”
QUOTE:
“I will never sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher.”
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie defending his blunt style and promising that he won’t echo the teacher’s “wah-wah” boring style as he kicks off a presidential campaign-style trip in New Hampshire this [next] week.
Paul Bedard, the Washington Examiner’s “Washington Secrets” columnist, can be contacted at [email protected].
