Presidential candidate makes Q-C visit

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By Kay Luna | Saturday, April 21, 2007 11:18 PM CDT | () comments

Jim Gilmore wants to make friends with Iowa voters — lots of them.

The emerging Republican presidential candidate ended up meeting very few during a meet-and-greet event Saturday at the Steeplegate Inn in Davenport, where the former Virginia governor and attorney general made his first stop in the Quad-Cities.

Gilmore called himself the “only consistent conservative” Republican in the running for president, bringing a strong focus on homeland security, fiscal responsibility and other issues to the table. He said his past shows people can count on him, and that he does what he says he will do.

“I think the Republicans of Iowa are entitled to a candidate who sticks — somebody who doesn’t waffle, doesn’t change,” he said.

Gilmore’s visit was part of a two-day swing through the area, where he spoke Friday to a group in Jackson County. He planned to continue on to Des Moines later Saturday.

He said he needs leadership in Iowa to “get things rolling here” for his campaign. That means fundraising and spreading the word about his candidacy during visits and through the Internet, he said.

“There’s still plenty of time to do this, and Iowa is key,” Gilmore said. “It’s significant.”

One of his biggest concerns for the country is terrorism, describing himself as “superbly prepared” to focus on national security issues. He served as chairman of a national commission on terrorism, and dealt with the 9-11 attacks on the Pentagon in Virginia as governor of that state.

He also is a U.S. Army veteran with intelligence experience.

Gilmore called the Virginia Tech massacre “a terrible tragedy,” adding that a female student who was shot twice in the incident — and survived — is a family friend.

“I don’t know how a mother and father can get through this,” he said.

However, he said a “complete and absolute partnership” between local, state and federal authorities and a renewed sense of citizen responsibility — of watching out for each other and for warning signs — could prevent terrorist attacks in the future.

Without that awareness, “we’re just waiting around” for the next tragedy to strike, Gilmore said.

Someone asked how he can reconcile concerns about tragedies like the shooting spree at Virginia Tech, and yet speak out as a defender of the second amendment: the right to bear firearms. He also sits on the board of directors of the National Rifle Association.

Gilmore said if the U.S. doesn’t allow people to carry guns, the country is saying people aren’t responsible enough to do other things they now have the right to do.

“It isn’t about the gun, it’s about the man,” he said.

For more information, go to Gilmore’s Web site at www.jimgilmoreforpresident.

com.

Kay Luna can be contacted at (563) 383-2323 or kluna@qctimes.com.