Bob Gibson
Daily Progress political blogger

Democrats are asking which candidate would be the strongest for the GOP to nominate in ‘08: Chris Saxman, Jim Gilmore or Bob Marshall.

The answer from former Charlottesville Democratic Party Chairman Lloyd Snook, a prolific blogger, is Saxman.

Snook blogged about his “strongest Republican” candidate selection this afternoon at: http://www.democraticcentral.com and mused: “The consensus that I have heard from Democratic Party insiders is that the candidate that they would least like to run against is Chris Saxman—he is smarter than the other two, and he is at least a nice guy.  Jim Gilmore is seen as VERY old news, and too strident to compete effectively against Mark Warner.  Bob Marshall is newer news and is even more strident than Gilmore, but at least he can be strident with a smile on his face, unlike Gilmore’s permanently affixed snarl.

“The interesting thing is that the Christian Right, which had thought Gilmore was one of them, is quite disturbed by his statements in Presidential debates that he favors abortion rights in the first trimester.  That is actually not wildly different from anything he had said on a Virginia stage in earlier years, but in the national debates he was required to be clear.  And the Christian Right is not happy about that.“

Snook knows that Republicans don’t let Democrats or independents vote in their primaries or conventions, much less decide which candidate the GOP will nominate, and certainly expects Democrat Mark Warner to face Gilmore. The run-up to Gilmore’s convention could be interesting if abortion becomes one of the litmus-test issues the candidates talk about.