Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore, who did a good job while in office, had a lot to say Wednesday night on Hardball. He's opposed to the president's immigration position, which he has every right to do. But in explaining why, the Virginia Republican totally mischaracterized what's in the Senate-passed bill -- a bill that basically tracks with the president's view on immigration reform - and he forgot to mention that fellow Virginia GOPer Jerry Kilgore recently lost his gubernatorial election bid after making his Gilmore-like position on immigration the centerpiece of his campaign. Gilmore also commented on Sen. Lieberman's primary challenge from the anti-war Ned Lamont:
Question: What does this tell us governor that an anti-war candidate could beat Senator Joe Lieberman? GILMORE: Well, I always say that when your enemy is destroying himself, don't interrupt, right? But I think this: I think that it really is an indication as we have seen over and over, that we start to begin to reward people who are breaking away from party loyalty. I think it's becoming more and more of a characteristic with Democrats and Republicans. We reward people who break away from party loyalty.
Excuse me, but shouldn't we applaud a Democrat who has stood with a Republican president on a war because he believes national security trumps party loyalty? A fierce anti-communist, Democratic Sen. Henry "Scoop" Jackson often bucked his McGovernite party on foreign policy and defense issues. Was he wrong to do so? Despite deep Republican reservations, Senator Dole backed President Clinton in the Balkans. Was he wrong too? Sorry Governor, but you're way off base on this one.