Jim Gilmore Shocks at Iowa Caucus (Or: Why Some Candidates Just Need to Drop Out)

Jim Gilmore, the former governor of Virginia and future Republican presidential nominee has outperformed all expectations in last night’s first contest of the race to the GOP nomination. While you may be sitting there thinking, “Who the heck is Jim Gilmore?” you will soon learn as his impressive showing has bolstered his previously faltering campaign. While polling leading into caucus-night had Mr. Gilmore at 0.0% in Iowa, he actually gathered up an astounding 12 voters, representing 0.01% of caucus-goers. With these results, Mr. Gilmore has beaten expectations by infinity percent, quite an accomplishment for any campaign.

It is not surprising that Gilmore surpassed all expectations. In the past few weeks the former governor has set out a strong set of policy proposals in many public events. He appeared in the latest Republican undercard debate, and on The Blaze’s GOP New Hampshire GOP Town Hall. He has received over $100,000 in campaign donations over the past six months, and held an event in Iowa with potential caucus goers. In policy, Gilmore stands by his progressive thoughts on climate change responsibility, and even calls for a more involved United States to make a Middle East NATO. Such outlandish proposals have drowned out the seemingly boring calls made by competitors, such as the tedious New York businessman Donald Trump.

Will the 12 voters the Gilmore campaign found provide momentum for the governor who seems to have no reason to continue? Almost definitely. Will the Gilmore campaign be able to use said momentum to bolster its run for New Hampshire? We will just have to wait and see. But one thing is for sure: Jim Gilmore can go home from Iowa, knowing he beat the Gary Johnson’s 8-vote showing in the 2012 caucus.

At this point it would be hard to write off a Gilmore nomination. As much as the mainstream media ignores Mr. Gilmore, they cannot deny that last night he pulled off the spectacular and in a few precincts eliminated the seemingly eternal question, “Who the heck is Jim Gilmore?”

Maybe it is indeed time for the less serious candidates to drop out.

Donald Trump, I’m looking at you.

But in all seriousness, it seems to be time for Mr. Gilmore to go home, and a few other candidates barely registering in the polls to do so too. For the entirety of the GOP primary season, the major flaw has been the dilution of all candidates, except Trump, due to the sheer number of candidates running (nearly 20 at one point).

Gilmore, most pitifully, was only able to gather 4 more votes in the Iowa Caucus than Gary Johnson did in 2012—and Johnson actually dropped out before the caucus. Gilmore also received 100 fewer votes than write-in candidates, and over 1500 less votes than the next actual contender, Rick Santorum (another candidate whose electoral end is close, if not already past).

It is possible that some of these candidates have nothing better to do. Gilmore, through running such a small campaign and not performing any rallies, he has spent less than $75,000. Though this race may simply be a waste of his own time at this point, he is not doing any disservice to his party by staying in the race. He takes up little to no media time, he does not attack other candidates, and those 12 votes he did gather would not have mattered much if they had gone to some other campaign.

So at this point I would personally implore Mr. Gilmore to consider halting his “campaign” and dropping out, not for the sake of the Republican Party, but for the sake of his own time.