Jim, we hardly knew ye

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, who touted himself as the reliable conservative in the 10-man race for the Republican nomination for president, has just dropped out of the contest. The move was first reported Saturday afternoon by Mike Allen of Politico.com.

The combative 57-year-old Gilmore, a lawyer who also served as state attorney general and briefly as chairman of the Republican National Committee, never got much traction in the GOP campaign. The campaign with its unusually early start has been tough on longtime frontrunners like Sen. John McCain, let alone lesser-known lights like Gilmore, who had raised little money, only $381,000 compared to Mitt Romney's $35 million. Practically speaking, Gilmore's departure will have little effect on the race.

In a statement posted minutes ago Gilmore said he would campaign for Republican General Assembly candidates in Virginia this fall. The tax-cutting former governor did not rule out a future run of his own for one of Virginia's U.S. Senate seats in 2008 if incumbent John Warner retires or for governor again in 2009.

But Gilmore said running for president now requires years of preparation and many millions of dollars, especially given the heavily front-loaded primary election schedule in presidential years. Gilmore only began his own campaign work in January. He did not endorse any of the remaining candidates.

Gilmore had been off the campaign trail in recent days anyway for treatment of a partially detached retina. Last month the Republican broke with President Bush's war policy. He said he did not favor abandoning Iraq, but he did propose "a limited deliberate drawdown" of American forces and a redeployment elsewhere in the region.

The Republican field will now stand at nine, at least until after the Aug. 11 straw poll in Ames, Iowa or until the frequently-delayed entry announcement by former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, who now is considering waiting for September. Presumably, he means this September.

--Andrew Malcolm

Comments

[Robert Stein]

Just as well that the lesser candidates start getting out of the way. The two heavyweights, Giuliani and Thompson, are starting to take off the gloves for what looks like it's going to be a bare-knuckles brawl: http://ajliebling.blogspot.com/2007/07/giuliani-thompson-tainted-new-friends.html

[Sal B]

Jim *WHO*? And how many hundreds of thousands of dollars did this particular egomaniac spend on his campaign? Well, I guess that's the American Way: Anyone can run for [not *become*] President.

(Ans: The figure is in the item--only $381,000. That's why he had to drop out.-AM)

[Doug Terry terryreport.com]

Gilmore running for president was a bit like a Jewish Rabbi hoping to be Pope. There was, in other words, a hopeless mismatch between what Gilmore has been as a politician in Virginia and what it takes to be president. Gilmore, as those of us who live in the DC area close to Virginia know well, was downright mean in his public statements and many of his actions as governor. He was a hard, hard right wing governor who, a generation ago, would easily have been the type to oppose every step of racial progress and reconciliation. Gilmore was readily willing to give public voice to some of the most stark beliefs of the far right and he got away with it in Virginia because the southern half of the state is locked in a world view a hundred years or more out of date. Gilmore for president? There is no way he would have been able to dress up his far right record, as Bush was able to do, to get elected.

[EuroTrash]

Partially detached retina? I think all of the GOP candidates are deaf, dumb and blind.

[malach]

half of these guys register and say they're running just so they can stand up there on the debate stages and bloviate. if the debates were run more objectively - only for those polling at least 5% or ever 10% - these cranks wouldn't waste anyone's time.
the real problem with these noodnicks is that they're given real time on the debate clocks so that the true contenders have little more than sound bite opportunities.

[Jonathan Cresswell]

I must say that I find most of the comments posted so far, insulting and irresponsible in the very least, if not downright stupid.
To say that a person is only a "legitimate" candidate or contender for the Presidency if he has more money, or more media exposure, is insane. No one, including me, thought that Bill Clinton, or Jimmy Carter could have ever been elected President, ..but they were.
A person like Jim Gilmore may have been naive as to the costs involved in the Race for President, but that in no way diminished his abilities or his right to RUN.
I can hardly believe how ludicrous and assinine the statements about Mr. Gilmore have been. I don't know much about him either, having only seen him on the debates. But he is an intelligent, and qualified individual, who, even though I may not have agreed with his views, was absolutely in his right to be in the debates, and share his views. He was a candidate who just could not get enough going.
Make no mistake,..the "frontrunners "or money candidates owe a lot of their allegience to people who are unscrupulous, and very manipulating. I for one am very tired of all these politicians who are in the pocket of some crony, or cronies, who have their own agenda for personal gain.
God,..I miss America, and real honest to goodness RED BLOODED Americans, who want to hear from all sides. This is why we have the trash in all the government now.
Front-runners...egomaniac,...what a collection of Horse Hockey.

[bill]

the comments on the southern half of virginia show the civil war solved nothing very well. perhaps the south still needs more time. u cant legistlate love thy fellow man. and, because underneath all the labels we plaster each other with, lies the stark fact that without the labels we are all identical. we all came out of africa. ironic.

[zune]

Mitt is leading in Iowa and NH. He's raised more money than any GOP candidate. He is the man to beat.