Gilmore Shifts Focus from White House to Capitol Hill

Jim Gilmore has apparently decided that his chances of getting the GOP nomination aren't as good as Tom Tancredo's or Tommy Thompson's, since he's gotten out while the other two are among those still in the race:

Former Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III is dropping his underdog bid for the Republican presidential nomination today, he told The Politico in an interview.

Gilmore said he has been approached about running for Virginia governor a second time, and about running for U.S. Senate if Sen. John W. Warner (R) retires. Gilmore said he will consider both options. Reflecting his long-held interest in Old Dominion politics, he said he will start a political action committee to support Republicans running for the state senate and House of Delegate.

To me, it's the timing that's most interesting. What was to prevent him from staying in the race a few more months to see whether something changed? After all, with McCain on life support and Newt not yet in, he might have thought it worth his trouble to stay in the race, in case Fred Thompson faltered and a 'real conservative' was wanted. That's slim odds, but what else was there to do with his time?

My guess is that he wants to be in the 2008 Virginia Senate race early. With the moves by Congressman Tom Davis to prepare his bid and people talking about conservatives such as Eric Cantor or Bob Goodlatte, he might have decided to make sure that he's one of the first out of the gate. And he couldn't do that while running for President.

It could be that he wants to be Governor again of course, but the next gubernatorial race is not until 2009.