Ed Gillespie Leads GOP Field in Virginia Senate Primary
Monday, 24 Mar 2014 10:33 PM
By John Gizzi
With most signs pointing to former
Republican Party chief Ed Gillespie as the likely GOP candidate against
freshman Democratic Sen. Mark Warner
in Virginia,
Gillespie told Newsmax his opponent was a key proponent of the unpopular
Obamacare law.
Warner "not only voted for it
but he helped whip the votes of freshman senators to get it passed four years
ago," Gillespie said Monday in an exclusive interview, offering a preview
of his campaign strategy.
"And he said he would never
vote to take away healthcare that you've got right now or a healthcare plan
that you like," said Gillespie, who served as chairman of the Republican
National Committee from 2003 to 2005.
At a meeting of the Republican
Party of Virginia in Richmond
this past weekend, a straw poll found Gillespie, who is also a former state
party chairman, favored by 68 percent of participants.
Moreover, although there are three
other candidates in the race, "upwards of 60 percent of the members of the
[Virginia Republican] State Central Committee support Ed for the
nomination," said Heidi Stirrup, 10th District representative to the GOP
state central committee from Prince
William County.
The GOP will nominate its Senate
candidate at the Republican State Convention in June.
Gillespie, 52, echoed the
confidence of his supporters that he will be the GOP nominee while spelling out
to Newsmax the kind of campaign he plans to run against Warner.
Warner's "actual record is at
odds with the public perception that he wants us to believe," Gillespie
said, citing the senator's vote against a balanced-budget amendment; for a
carbon tax; and against an amendment to repeal a tax on medical devices.
"He'd have us believe he is a
fiscal moderate, but when he votes for the failed stimulus package and is rated
38 percent by the National Federation of Independent Business and the U.S.
Chamber of Commerce, he isn't," Gillespie said.
Warner won his first term handily
in 2008 as Barack Obama was carrying Virginia's
presidential votes, and is a past governor of the Old Dominion
State.
But while many polls give Warner a
strong lead in his re-election bid, national GOP and conservative leaders have
been increasingly naming him as an incumbent vulnerable to a strong challenge
this fall.
In recent weeks, Virginia was cited as a promising GOP net
gain in the Senate by both Republican National Chairman Reince Priebus and
James L. Martin, chairman of the 60 Plus Association and leading proponent of
the "death tax" repeal.
The Republican hopeful also says
the Keystone XL pipeline and the
likelihood of the fresh jobs it will create will be major issues.
Although Warner says he supports
construction of the pipeline — Obama has had the bill on his desk for more than
five years — Gillespie pointed out that in March 2012, Warner opposed an
amendment to approve the Keystone XL and
require the route for the pipeline in Nebraska to be submitted by the state.
The measure lost in the Senate
56-42, with Warner voting "nay" and Virginia's other Democratic senator, Jim
Webb, voting "aye."
Gillespie knows from personal
experience that winning campaigns must be accompanied by positive agendas as
well as criticism of an incumbent's record.
As a top staffer of then-Rep. Dick
Armey of Texas in 1994, he was a principal
drafter of the GOP's Contract with America, which provided for a
balanced budget and welfare reform and helped Republicans capture both houses
of Congress that year.
"The incumbent's agenda has
killed jobs, lowered take-home pay, and raised energy costs," said
Gillespie. "My agenda will lead to job creation, greater take-home pay,
and lower energy costs."
Like his political hero the late
Jack Kemp, a former New York
congressman and 1996 GOP vice presidential nominee, Gillespie also believes in
taking the conservative agenda to voters who normally don't vote Republican.
"We opened our headquarters
in Lorton [Va.]
and more than 200 people came. It was moving to see the number of
Asian-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and the young people
there," Gillespie said. "They want to hear a message of opportunity,
and that's what we'll offer in this campaign."
Mark Warner
Mark
R. Warner is a U.S. Senate
senator, and a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank).
Note: Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank).
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, the founder of the Soros Economic Development Fund, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Committee for Economic Development.
W. Bowman Cutter
was a director at the Atlantic Council
of the United States
(think tank), is a director at the Soros
Economic Development Fund, and a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.
Robert G. Liberatore
was a director at the Atlantic Council
of the United States
(think tank), and a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development.
Paula
Stern was a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and is a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development.
Beth
A. Brooke was a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and is a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development.
George
P. Shultz is an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank), and was a trustee
at the Committee for Economic
Development.
Barbara H.
Franklin is a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development.
Stuart E.
Eizenstat is a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and was a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development.
Kenneth
W. Dam is a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), and a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development.
Donna
S. Morea was a trustee at the Committee
for Economic Development, and the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.
CGI Group Inc.
was the Obamacare contractor that
developed Healthcare.gov web site.
Obamacare
is Barack Obama’s signature policy
initiative.
Susan
E. Rice was a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank), is a stockholder in the TransCanada
Corporation, and the White House national security adviser for the Barack Obama administration.
TransCanada
Corporation is the proposed builder for the Keystone XL pipeline.
Anita
B. Dunn produced ad campaign for the Keystone
XL pipeline, the communications director for the Barack Obama administration, is the head of media for the Barack Obama Presidential Library, and
married to Robert F. Bauer.
Robert
F. Bauer is married to Anita B. Dunn,
was the White House counsel for the Barack
Obama administration, and Barack
Obama’s personal counsel.
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