Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, who had long been presumed to be running for John Warner's Senate seat, is officially in against Mark Warner.
Former Gov. Jim Gilmore officially entered the 2008 U.S. Senate campaign today, announcing his long-expected candidacy in an on-line video in which he takes a shot at both political parties.
Gilmore, a Republican, makes the case for his candidacy at www.jimgilmoreforsenate.com.
Gilmore says Virginia and the nation face major challenges -- terrorism, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, transportation and illegal immigration.
"On all these issues, our leaders have let us down, and we badly need new hands at the wheel," says Gilmore.
The announcement video is available at YouTube. He's already gotten a campaign Website. I did a Whois, and it appears that Gilmore had already decided to run in July--the domain was reserved on July 10.
Gilmore starts out as a heavy underdog. Mark Warner is beating him like a rented mule in every poll, and Chris Cilizza has already declared this race all but over.
For those who don't know, Congressman Tom Davis originally got in informally in September, but bowed out after the Virginia GOP decided to choose its nominee in a state convention rather than a primary. A primary would have favored Davis due to his popularity in NoVa, while a convention supposedly gave Gilmore the upper hand because most of the delegates would come from the conservative-dominated activist base.
The DSCC welcomed Gilmore to the race today with a reminder of Gilmore's horrible record as governor.
Pass the popcorn.