Jim Gilmore still has a convention to get through before he actually becomes the Republican nominee for Senate, but that isn’t stopping him from going after Mark Warner already:
WAKEFIELD, Va., April 16 — U.S. Senate candidate James S. Gilmore III (R) launched a broad assault on his potential Democratic rival Wednesday, accusing Mark R. Warner of being no different than other Democrats who want to raise taxes and hastily withdraw troops from Iraq.
Gilmore, who is vying for the GOP nomination to succeed retiring Sen. John W. Warner (R), made his remarks at the Wakefield Ruritan Club Shad Planking, an annual political event that attracts candidates and officeholders in both parties who gather in a field to talk about upcoming races, eat smoked shad and drink beer.
Gilmore, who like Mark Warner is a former governor, tried to link Warner to the Democratic presidential candidates. “I can assure you the people of Virginia have . . . a choice between Obama and Clinton and Mark Warner or John McCain and Jim Gilmore,” he said. He also accused Warner of favoring a rollback of President Bush’s tax cuts.
Mark Warner largely avoided Gilmore in his remarks but said later that Gilmore brought a nasty tinge to an event whose tone generally is lighthearted.
“I’m not surprised by the tenor of Mr. Gilmore’s comments. It was the way he governed,” said Warner, who said he has not given a specific date for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq
More importantly, though, Gilmore ought to not make the mistake about worry about the next game. He needs to win the one he’s actually playing first.
