Republican Rep. Wayne Gilchrest has had conservative critics for years and yet survived primary challenges from the right wingof his party in recent elections.
But it was his April vote on a funding bill for the Iraq war, sponsored by Democrats and setting benchmarks and timetables for withdrawal, that most infuriated conservatives, especially since he was one of only two Republicans to back the measure. It was vetoed by President Bush and fired up the most serious challenge to his nine-term incumbency.
“That was kind of the starting point” to the intense opposition to Gilchrest, said Sen. E.J. Pipkin of Elkton, a chief opponent. “I think that?s why he?s not going back.”
“A lot of people cannot forgive Wayne” for that vote, said Sen. Andy Harris, who got into the race just weeks later and has raised more than $1 million to unseat Gilchrest.
A decorated Marine in the Vietnam War, Gilchrest voted for the 2002 resolution authorizing the Iraq invasion and has continued to defend his vote last April. He insists the timetables were only recommendations, and that U.S. generals have said the bill pressured the Iraqis to take greater responsibility for countering the insurgency.
“The troops are stunningly competent,” Gilchrest said in the final forum of the campaign. “The surge is working.”
“Thank God it?s working,” Harris commented after the congressman?s remarks. “I couldn?t agree with the congressman more.”
Harris believes that because the surge is reducing the violence, the war is less of an issue in the campaign. But Republican primary voters are “still remembering the war vote from back in the spring.” He maintains it contained “real timetables and real withdrawal dates.”
Both Pipkin and Harris said the economy has replaced the war as the top issue on voters? mind. Pipkin believes the shift to “checkbook issues” benefits him.
“My whole existence is about checkbook issues,” said Pipkin, who made a fortune on Wall Street in an investment banking firm. “You shouldn?t hire a doctor to fix your checkbook.”
Harris, a physician, jabs back that Pipkin is pretty free with his own checkbook, spending millions on a 2004 Senate campaign and taking out a $500,000 loan for this race. “The answer is permanent tax cuts,” Harris said, much as Ronald Reagan did. And he finds Gilchrest just as bad on the economy, saying he has repeatedly sided with the Democrats and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Gilchrest has voted for the Bush tax cuts and supports making them permanent, but he has also voted for tax increases in bills to pay for new programs.
