Republican presidential candidate Jim Gilmore says he isn’t sure which candidate will drop out of the Republican presidential primary race next, but the former governor of Virginia does know he won’t be the one.
“I know it isn’t going to be me,” Gilmore said during an exclusive phone interview with the Washington Examiner, as he explained how serious he is about his bid for the White House in 2016.
This weekend Gilmore is traveling through New Hampshire, his 13th trip to the Granite State this year. He said that on Monday he will file his candidate papers for a spot on the primary ballot in New Hampshire. In South Carolina, Gilmore is already on the ballot and he is gathering petitions in Virginia. Next weekend, an appearance at a Republican Party of Florida summit will automatically qualify him for the state’s ballot.
“I’m not getting out of the race, I don’t need to get out of the race — I’m not getting out of the race. I am the right person to be the president. I have specific experience and programs that will help this country at a time when it needs to be helped the most and I’m not getting out of the race,” Gilmore said.
Gilmore failed to quality for Tuesday’s GOP debate in Milwaukee, Wis., hosted by the Fox Business Network. To make the stage at the prime-time event, candidates had to score at least 2.5 percent in an average of the latest four national polls; for candidates to qualify for the undercard event, candidates needed at least 1 percent. Gilmore’s poll numbers have oscillated between 0 and 1 percent since he announced his candidacy in late July. He does not appear in the RealClearPolitics average of polls for GOP presidential primary contenders and currently sits in last in the Examiner’s presidential power rankings.
While the former governor did participate in the undercard event before the first debate in August, he did not qualify to appear at CNN’s GOP debate in September.
Gilmore said he does not approve of the format for the debates. The Republican National Committee, he said, is to blame.
“My message to the RNC is that they should stop trying to manipulate the nomination process — it’s not their job,” Gilmore told the Examiner. “That’s the job of the people of New Hampshire and the other early primary states.”
He said the partnership between the RNC and the networks is “not proper,” and that they are driven “by their desire to sell commercials and make money and this is not in the public interest.” Instead, Gilmore suggests a two-debate format, where lots would be drawn to see which candidates appear in each individual debate.
“That would give an opportunity for a person such as myself who has foreign policy experience and gubernatorial experience and deft at policies about what needs to be done, by having a fair chance to have their voice heard,” Gilmore said. “But when they set an arbitrary standard of a national poll, well then that’s going to be satisfied by the people that the networks themselves have been promoting. So they’re in absolute conflict of interest.”
As a candidate, Gilmore said his major platform is to restore the American economy. Gilmore added that the U.S. needs to get rid of laws the Obama administration has put in place that discourage foreign investment, something he would change as president. When asked if he thinks
President Obama is to blame for the current state of the economy, he replied, “Yes I do. He would tell you he is responsible for it and then would point to the unemployment numbers. The fact is, businesses are not starting at the pace that they have to start, we are not raising jobs fast enough to make up for the loss we saw in the Great Recession.”
National security and aid to foreign countries are in jeopardy due to the nation’s weak economy, Gilmore said, adding that this along with poor leadership are the greatest threats facing the United States. To improve national security, the Army veteran said he would eliminate the sequester on the defense budget and suggested the creation of a new NATO in the Middle East — which he said would help restrain the Iranians in their “expansion and expansionism” and create a collective organization to oppose the Islamic State.
On border security, Gilmore took a subtle jab at GOP front-runner Donald Trump. While the U.S. does have a right to control its border, he said, “I’m just not willing to send a message of anger towards the Latino community, I’m just not willing to do that.”
The former governor of Virginia also discussed with the Examiner last week’s election in Virginia, in which the Republican Party maintained control of the state Senate following a close contest. Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe and his fellow Democrats in the legislature had been pushing for a gun control agenda as part of their campaign message and a group backed by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg pumped over $2 million into Democratic campaigns in key Virginia Senate contests. By the end of election night, the Republicans held on to their 21-19 majority. The General Assembly also remained in GOP hands by a 2-1 margin.
“I think there was a message. The governor made it that message,” said Gilmore. “By reaching out and making gun control one of his signature issues and particularly injecting money with Mayor Bloomberg into … the Senate races. They made gun control an issue and the people of Virginia strongly rejected that anti-Second Amendment message that the governor was making.”
Nationally, Gilmore, a board member of the National Rifle Association, added that he believes the Virginia elections “are a statement to the people of the United States that the anti-Second Amendment forces are not succeeding.”
