Gilmore makes campaign stop
Posted on January 31, 2008
As much of America sat down Monday evening to watch President Bush’s State of the Union Address, JMU students and members of the Harrisonburg community joined on campus to listen to U.S. Senate candidate Jim Gilmore.
The GOP nominee for the Virginia vacancy, currently filled by Sen. John Warner who is set to retire in Jan. 2009, addressed an audience of about 100 in the Health and Human Services Building.
“The question is as we go forward now into the future: What kind of person are you looking for to send to the United States Senate from the state of Virginia?” Gilmore asked.
The 58-year-old former governor of Virginia answered his own question by making his case on issues ranging from military efforts overseas to the struggling economy.
During the question-and-answer session JMU junior Curt Dvonch switched the conversation to the war on terror, asking whether keeping troops in Iraq is further motivating terrorists like al-Qaeda and taking away from domestic defense.
“His answer to that I thought was pretty dodgy,” Dvonch said. “I got the answer I expected.”
The former governor responded describing the Sept. 11 attacks as a “crime against humanity,” adding that national security is a top priority.
When SGA Senator Ilk Ghavami questioned environmental policies and investing in alternative forms of energy, Gilmore first responded saying, “You’re the man.”
He then described America as a country that needs to escape its dependency on foreign energy because it threatens national security and gave a number of broad solutions he would like explored.
“I don’t care about who the candidate is or what side he’s on,” Ghavami said. “He stayed true to his core beliefs and his values and he was able to support why he was who he was.”
Gilmore also emphasized his stance regarding increased federal spending, saying it would only worsen the nation’s economy.
“There are only three moving parts to a budget,” Gilmore said. “…Spending, debt and taxes, and that’s it. If you don’t control the spending side I can assure debt and taxes are inevitable.”
During Gilmore’s governorship from 1998-2002 the car tax was cut by 70 percent and 300,000 new jobs were created, but he attempted to connect with students when it came to his criticism of proponents for spending.
“They just don’t understand what people are trying to go through when tuitions are doubling and quintupling,” Gilmore said. “They don’t understand what it is like when [people] have to go to the gas pump and pump $3-a-gallon gas.”
Gilmore playfully chided the College Democrats in the room, but avoided any serious discussion of his opponent, former Virginia Governor Mark Warner. Warner visited JMU two weeks ago today.
