Candidate doesn't want Bush's coattails

RICHMOND, Va., May 20 (UPI) -- Former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore III says he's not interested in riding President George Bush's coattails in his quest to win the state's U.S. Senate seat.

Gilmore said he and Bush diverge on trade, immigration, spending and energy, The Washington Times reported Tuesday.

The candidate said Bush's asking the Saudi government to boost oil production was akin to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., calling for negotiations with countries hostile to the United States.

"I just don't think the president of the United States should be going to the Middle East to ask for oil-drilling and be turned down," Gilmore told the Times. "That would be kind of like trying to negotiate with Iran without preconditions. We've heard that before."

Gilmore's assessment of his party's standing was shared by another Virginian, Rep. Eric Cantor, the House GOP chief deputy whip. In an interview with the Times, Cantor said Republicans are fighting how "the public looks at the Bush administration in the last seven or eight years as a time in which the government did not fix any problems."

Democrat Mark Warner, Gilmore's successor, is his party's Senate candidate.

Gilmore faces state Del. Robert Marshall in a nominating convention May 31.