Jim Gilmore’s Support: Only an Inch Deep, and a Mile from Reality

Posted by Greg on Tuesday, April 22

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                
April 22, 2008                                               

JIM GILMORE'S SUPPORT: ONLY AN INCH DEEP, AND A MILE FROM REALITY

RICHMOND - Jim Gilmore claims he has secured "a clear majority" of delegates to the May 30th Virginia Republican Convention, and a news release from the Gilmore campaign last night alleged that Republicans "are responding overwhelmingly" and his campaign has been able to "activate a state-wide organization almost overnight."

Oh r-e-a-l-l-y?

Gilmore's own finance reports filed with the FEC reveal that, in the five months since he declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, he has received contributions from 394 individuals.

That's right: only 394 individuals. And that's despite nearly non-stop fundraising efforts from one end of Virginia to the other, and Gilmore's frequent and hopeless trips out-of-state to shake-down GOP donors who are not savvy enough to examine Gilmore's sorry track record here in Virginia.

On the other hand, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Mark Warner's campaign has generated enthusiastic support from more than 8,700 individual contributors who support his solid record of bipartisan, responsible leadership.

That's right: 8,700 individuals have contributed to Mark Warner's effort to bring real change to what is so obviously broken in Washington. Let's put it another way: Mark Warner has attracted enthusiastic support from more than 20 times more people than Jim Gilmore.

"What does this shallow support say about the latest desperate candidacy by Jim Gilmore -- a former state Attorney General, a failed Governor, and the fired Chairman of the Republican National Committee?" said Democratic Party of Virginia Executive Director Levar Stoney. "It reveals a widespread recognition that Mr. Gilmore simply does not work or play well with others, including majority Republicans who made the right choice to reject Gilmore's dishonesty and adjourn the 2005 General Assembly without a state budget for the first time in Virginia's proud history. Leaders of Mr. Gilmore's own party were not willing to accept Gilmore's Enron-style budget gimmicks and his pattern of fiscal irresponsibility, and they will not fund this attempt at partisan redemption today."

When he introduced his final budget as Virginia's governor, Jim Gilmore used smoke-and-mirrors -- and even delayed state income tax refunds to Virginia families -- to try to hide the true scope of a revenue downturn that was obvious to everyone. Gilmore deliberately misled Virginians when he informed his newly-elected successor, Mark Warner, and Republican leaders of the General Assembly, that the red ink only totaled about $700 million.

"What mess? There is no mess," Gilmore boasted to reporters, even as his fellow Republicans blasted and ultimately dismissed Gilmore's obvious budget gimmicks and fiscal follies.

In truth, the Gilmore deficit was more than FIVE TIMES worse than the $700 million he publicly claimed. It actually topped $3.8 Billion - and Gilmore's deficit reached $6 Billion -- and put Virginia's best-in-the-nation credit rating at risk.

Soon after Gilmore was run out of Richmond, Governor Mark Warner's spending discipline and smart government reforms turned the tide of red ink and restored Virginia's hard-earned reputation for fiscal integrity. In fact, Mark Warner's bipartisan, responsible and commonsense stewardship of taxpayer dollars resulted in Virginia being named the nation's "Best Managed State" and the "Best State for Business."

"Virginians know Mark Warner, and they trust former Governor Warner to bring people together to responsibly and honestly tackle our toughest challenges," said Stoney. "No one is buying Jim Gilmore's effort to whitewash history, or his increasingly desperate attempts to re-write his real legacy as a reckless and irresponsible fiscal failure."

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