December 27, 2007

Who Is Jim Gilmore?

Glenn Reynolds says he doesn't "know much about ... Jim Gilmore, a Republican running for the U.S. Senate in Virginia, in a post re-promoting Reynolds' podcast with Mark Warner, the Democratic candidate for the same seat. Reynolds links to Gilmore's campaign website, but should have clicked on to the candidate' bio. Gilmore was governor of Virginia from 1998-2002 - known for education reform, for cutting taxes and spending, and for being strongly pro-life, but also for a streak of progressive conservatism.

Gilmore proposed and signed into law Virginia's first stand-alone Martin Luther King Holiday. Gilmore and his wife hosted a historic reception in the Governor's Mansion for Coretta Scott King and announced a technology partnership between Virginia and the King Center for Nonviolence. He also proposed and funded a new African-American History Trail in Virginia and called upon the State Board of Education to include a more diverse range of historical figures in Virginia's Social Studies curriculum. Test scores during Gilmore's term showed a narrowing of the "achievement gap" between minority and white students. Gilmore also significantly increased funding for Virginia's two historically black universities, Norfolk State University and Virginia State University.

While governor, Gilmore created the nation's first state Secretary of Technology, established a statewide technology commission, and signed into law the nation's first comprehensive state Internet policy.

Until a until a few months ago Gilmore was a long-shot candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. His resume also includes: attorney, army intelligence specialist, prosecutor and state attorney general.

He was term-limited to one term and succeeded by ... Mark Warner.

Since leaving the governor's office, Gilmore has continued in public service. Congress chose him to chair a national commission charged with making recommendations on methods to prevent and respond to terrorist attacks on the United States. The Gilmore Commission warned in 1999 and in 2000 that America was facing a possible terrorist attack. After 9/11 Congress adopted 146 of the Gilmore Commission's 164 recommendations.

Gilmore also chaired a Congressional Commission to study Internet Commerce and guided that group to a recommendation that the Internet remain free of taxation. He currently is president of USA Secure, a not-for-profit homeland security think tank, and he is a former chairman of the Board of Trustees of the U.S. Air Force Academy and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee.

Gilmore is a member of the board of directors of the NRA. He's strong on private property rights.

He also is a regular blogger. Reynolds should do a podcast with Gilmore. They'd certainly have a lot to talk about.