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DEL.ICIO.USJim Gilmore and Georgia’s move to the Feb. 5 presidential primary
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On the same day the House was to take up a bill to move the Georgia presidential primary to Feb. 5, one of the movement’s possible victims trolled the state Capitol for supporters.
Former Virginia governor Jim Gilmore describes himself as “a mainstream, Reagan conservative in this race, someone who can attract people from the right to the center.”
Gilmore had paid an early morning visit to Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, met with a gathering of House and Senate leaders, and had his eye on a meeting with Gov. Sonny Perdue when we caught up with him.
Coincidentally, Gilmore came only days after state GOP lawmakers held an informal meeting to gripe about their dissatisfaction with the top current candidates for the White House — John McCain and Rudy Giuliani in particular.
Gilmore’s got substantial military experience. He was chairman of the National Commission on Terrorism. “I was the governor of Virginia during the 9/11 attack. Virginia was attacked, you know,” Gilmore said.
You can go to his web site for more biographical details. It’s gilmoreforpresident.com.
The immediate question is whether Gilmore — or second- and third-tier candidates like him — will be hurt by the country’s stampede toward a national primary.
“It’s fair to say that it will make American democracy very unpredictable. This is unprecedented,” Gilmore said. He was careful with his comments. It is a candidate’s job to soldier on, regardless of obstacles thrown up. Anything else looks like whining.
“One scenario is that the advantage goes to the richest person, or the person the press supports — which means the American people will not really have an opportunity to decide this based on philosophy or issues,” Gilmore said.
His other thought? Nobody has enough money to run a campaign in every state in the Union at the same time. The system might fracture, he said, and who knows what might result from that.
House Majority Jerry Keen (R-St. Simons Island) is a big proponent of moving Georgia’s primary. Efforts to reach him Tuesday afternoon, while the House was in session, were unsuccessful.
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