CPAC – Jim Gilmore
Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore came by to shake hands and I managed to talk to him one-on-one for a few minutes. His term preceded my having moved back to Virginia in 2002, so I mostly knew him from his time as RNC Chair and a few appearances on the Sunday shows. He was quite impressive.
What most impressed me about him is that he seems to have a very firm grasp of foreign policy issues, which I wasn’t expecting from someone with a domestic-focused political career. It turns out his undergraduate degree is in international relations and he served his first few years out of college as an Army intelligence officer. More importantly, I had forgotten his tenure as head of the Congressional Advisory Panel to Assess Domestic Capabilities for Terrorism Involving Weapons of Mass Destruction, aka the “Gilmore Commission.”
I asked him about how he would approach breaking out of the pack of the second tier candidates, many of whom have genuine conservative credentials, and establish himself as the “conservative alternative” to the Big Three. He said that they’re raising a lot of money, to be sure, but they’re having to spend it to convince people they’re something they’re not, while all he had to do is tell people who his is. He thinks that’ll be cheaper.
Related Posts
- None Found
About James Joyner
Army Secretary Resigns Amid Walter Reed Probe Katie Couric in 3rd Place South Carolina Straw Poll Beltway Traffic Jam CPAC – Ann Coulter Swiss Accidentally Invade Liechtenstein Vilsack Whines About Polls CPAC – Jim Gilmore CPAC – Giuliani Time [IMG OTB Sports] Truth? You want the truth about Steroids? Former Dodger pitcher Clem Labine dead at age 80 2007 AL Fantasy Sleepers Manny is Manny Jake Plummer to Retire Rather than Go to Bucs
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
[...] Jim Gilmore • James Joyner at Outside the Beltway • Mark Tapscott at Washington Examiner • Alexander at Save The GOP [...]
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0
[...] Gilmore at CPAC impressed a conservative blogger with his grasp of foreign policy, and said that telling people who he is will be cheap. … Gilmore gave a fiery address to CPAC in an attempt to get noticed, saying “The people who have been anointed as the frontrunners in this race are all fine men. … But they are not conservatives.” Regarding himself, he said, “I have always been a conservative. Always. I’ve seen others who were here and they have evolved; they have shifted. I don’t have to shift. I can be who I am.†Still, there were reports of a politicians worst nightmare: empty seats. … [...]
Helpful or Unhelpful:
0 
0