Well, a slot did recently open for a movement conservative, Southern, former governor of Virginia in the race.
Jim Gilmore, a tax-slashing former Virginia governor, announced he will explore a presidential bid in 2008. Citing what he said was the lack of a true conservative in the field of GOP White House prospects, Gilmore said Tuesday he will charter a federal committee in January that would allow him to assess his chances for the race himself.
"There is not a committed conservative in the field who can put together a national campaign. I am and I can. I have people on the ground right now in Iowa and in South Carolina," Gilmore, 57, said in a telephone interview from New York.
Gilmore was before my time in Virginia, but from all I hear of him, he's a real conservative. Since Mark Warner may be thinking of jumping back into the race (are he and Obama just trying to mess with Hillary?), tax-cutting Gilmore would be a nice counter to the man who pushed through the biggest tax hike in Virginia history just a month after I moved into the area by lying about the state's $1 billion+ surplus. I'll get you yet, Warner.