The Daily Caller earlier this week had an interesting op-ed by Joanne Butler. The op-ed was headlined: “A Tale of Two Virginia Governors: Jim Gilmore, the anti-McDonnell.” Butler opened her op-ed by admitting that Governor Gilmore appointed her to be a board member of a small Virginia college. She also said she admires Governor Gilmore for his accomplishments in office. As do I. She said after Governor Gilmore left office she (Butler) and other appointees were invited to a party at the Governor’s suburban Richmond home for a reunion. Butler opined that the Gilmore house “was large, but not overly so, and certainly not on a scale with the huge houses I had seen in McLean and in northwest DC. It was furnished very nicely but not expensively. There was an upright piano in the living room that had a collection of old family photos on the top – clearly this was a home, not a trophy house.” I, too, have been a guest in Governor Gilmore’s Richmond house on two occasions and everything that Ms. Butler writes is right on the mark. Butler also notes the difference between Roxane Gilmore and Maureen McDonnell as being “sharp.” Butler said, “ Like her husband, Roxane came from a modest background – her father was a highway road inspector, but a man with a great love of learning and books. She went on to receive an M.A. in classics from the University of Virginia (no surprise for a woman who was learning Latin at age 10). She became a lecturer at Randolph-Macon, a private college in the outer Richmond suburbs, a job she continued to do while she was the First Lady of Virginia. Her choice to continue her day job was a bit of a shock for some – she was the first First Lady in the history of the commonwealth to do so. “ Butler also quotes University of Virginia professor Larry Sabato as saying that Roxane Gilmore was “the first to have a “completely independent identity” from her husband the governor. He also said she was a professional woman who didn’t care about the social scene.” Butler also quotes Sabato as describing the Gilmore as people who “could care less whether they are invited to the right parties, whether the Richmond social set includes them. Until Jim became attorney general or even governor, they just weren’t part of the ‘in’ crowd.” Butler also said, “The Gilmores’ example indicates that Bob and Maureen were struggling with something much deeper. These people were definitely not comfortable in their own skin.” Yes, the Gilmores were my kind of people as well. Governor Gilmore knew he was governor and his wife knew she was first lady of Virginia but they did not have to go around flaunting it.The McDonnells, unfortunately, were social climbers. Governor Gilmore promised during his campaign that he would get the car tax eliminated and he came close to doing it. At least he managed to get that tax reduced. He was a no nonsense type of Governor who had a program and stuck to it. We need more politicians like Governor Gilmore in office. Perhaps Governor Gilmore should consider another U.S. Senate run.
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 09:39:40 +0000