Gilmore Takes On GOP's Leading Candidates

"Rudy McRomney is not going to be nominated," he insisted during a wide-ranging, hour-long discussion. "There is no historical reason to think they will be."

So what would a Gilmore presidency look like?

His aggressive push of the Virginia car-tax cut for four years made him the darling of fiscal conservatives but also sparked a philosophical battle within his party.

Gilmore is unapologetic. "I am prepared to defend my record in Virginia," he said, but he then pointed out that he is not running for governor again.

"I know I can be the president," he said. "I know I have a philosophy that is very well worked out. I know exactly how I feel about what society should be like and what the role of the United States should be in the world."

Even so, he is still fuzzy on key issues, such as immigration and the Iraq war. Gilmore said Thursday that he was not ready to take a position on the immigration deal reached hours earlier by Bush and a bipartisan group of senators, including McCain. He said that illegal immigrants should not have a "path to citizenship," but added that immigration reform "is needed" and that the 12 million illegal immigrants already in this country should be required to "register" to stay.

On the Iraq war, Gilmore said that Democrats who advocate a pullout of troops are "succumbing to a siren song" that could lead to ethnic cleansing such as the kind seen in the Balkans nearly a decade ago. But as with some of his rivals, he did not have a clear answer to the question of what the United States should do if the current increase in troops does not work.

Boyd Marcus, who served as Gilmore's gubernatorial chief of staff, said that the late decision to run for the presidency has made it difficult. Gilmore jumped in last November, only after George Allen (R-Va.) lost his Senate seat.

"Our ramp-up has been slower," Marcus said.

But Gilmore said that his experience as governor and on two federal task forces makes him an ideal candidate.

"It seemed like time after time after time in public life, I was confronted with challenges that had to be met," he said. "So, naturally, when people along the way kept talking about the presidency, then of course you look to see whether or not the moment in fact has arrived."