Gilmore Takes On GOP's Leading Candidates

Ex-Virginia Governor Says Giuliani, McCain, Romney Don't Have 'Core Conservative Values'

Former Virginia governor James S. Gilmore III, whose chief claim to fame in his one term was a partially completed repeal of the state's car tax, has become the self-appointed pit bull of the 2008 Republican presidential campaign.

Gilmore uses the nickname "Rudy McRomney" in derisively lumping together former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney. In a Web video, he lambastes them for not sharing the "core conservative values" of his party.

"John McCain has fought conservatives time after time, even invoking the rhetoric of class warfare to oppose the Bush tax cuts," Gilmore said. "Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney both repeatedly opposed core conservative values to win elections in New York and Massachusetts."

With almost no money (he raised less than 1 percent of what Romney did during the first three months of the year) and almost no staff (he says he has a single "field man" in Iowa), Gilmore has decided to gain ground in the crowded field of 10 candidates through a simple strategy: attack, attack, attack -- and hope the rest start attacking one another as well.

Eventually, said Kieran Mahoney, Gilmore's top strategist, Republican voters will see what Gilmore says is plain: None of the other candidates for president has his record as a "consistent conservative."

"Romney's going to take his $23 million and go shooting at McCain," Mahoney said. "When Giuliani takes his $17 million and shoots at Romney, that's not a bad day, either. It's not necessary that we own the bullets."

If Tuesday's debate in Columbia, S.C., was any indication, Gilmore's strategy may be working. By repeating some of his accusations, Gilmore grabbed a bigger share of the post-debate coverage than he did after the Republicans' first debate. And, as Mahoney predicted, his comments may have helped to spark feisty exchanges between the other candidates.

The leading candidates for the Republican nomination profess no fear of Gilmore.

An aide to one of them, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that his team "is working 80- to 100-hour weeks, focused on many different elements of the campaign. None of them deal with Jim Gilmore."

Such scorn might deflate another long-shot candidate, but not Gilmore. Supreme self-confidence was his greatest strength -- and, some say, the source of many bruised relationships -- in public life.

Gilmore served one year as chairman of the Republican National Committee, leaving after what was widely described as a clash of egos between him and Karl Rove, one of President Bush's top advisers.

Sitting in the library of an Alexandria hotel this week, Gilmore dismissed the comments of his rivals and repeated his criticism of their qualifications.