Jim Gilmore says he's everything his Democrat opponent for U.S. Senate isn't: a tax cutter, an anti-terrorism expert, trustworthy.

In his customary no-holds-barred style, Gilmore yesterday reserved his toughest criticism of Mark R. Warner for a broken promise not to raise taxes -- and warned that Warner would do the same in Washington.

As governor, Warner won $1.4 billion in new taxes in 2004 to repair a state budget Democrats and Republicans say was damaged by predecessor Gilmore's pricier-than-predicted car-tax rollback.

"Mark Warner is just like a hungry piranha," Gilmore told a state Capitol news conference. "There's just no end to his appetite for other people's tax dollars."

Warner fired back through campaign spokesman Kevin Hall, who said in a written statement, "Electing Mr. Gilmore will mean more of the negative, name-calling politics of the past."

On security and diplomacy, Gilmore cited his Vietnam War-era service in the U.S. Army, stints as a Henrico prosecutor and attorney general, his chairmanship of a federal anti-terrorism study and, as governor, overseeing the state's initial response to the 9/11 attacks.

Gilmore said Virginians must choose between "someone who has demonstrated strength or a na?f who doesn't know anything about foreign policy."

Before his election in 2001 as governor -- his first public office -- Warner was a businessman who amassed a multimillion-dollar fortune in high technology.

Gilmore's broadside is an apparent sign he will go on the attack to overcome Warner's advantage in the early polls, fundraising and popularity.

Gilmore's remarks came at the start of a statewide swing with top GOP officeholders and leaders. The tour was meant to signal that the party is rallying to Gilmore, who was narrowly nominated at a divisive convention in Richmond.

Gilmore, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling, Attorney General Bob McDonnell and Del. Jeffrey M. Frederick of Prince William, the new state Republican chairman, noted that Warner had repeatedly promised as a candidate for governor not to raise taxes.

In contrast, Gilmore made good on a pledge to phase out the unpopular tax on personal motor vehicles. But the tax was never fully repealed because Warner and lawmakers decided it was too expensive to do so.

"I am a person who says what he's going to do," Gilmore said. "I am a straight talker."

Gilmore called his campaign "a crusade for the working families of Virginia."

There are continuing signs Republicans are still not falling into line behind Gilmore.

Del. Robert G. Marshall of Prince William, whom Gilmore defeated May 31 for the Senate nomination, sent a thank-you e-mail to supporters Monday in which he again failed to endorse Gilmore.

"And may we be successful in defeating Mark Warner this fall!" said Marshall, never mentioning Gilmore by name.

Also, Donald W. Upson, Gilmore's secretary of technology, yesterday played host at a fundraising luncheon for Warner in Tysons Corner, hub of the Northern Virginia info-tech industry.

"Even Republicans are rejecting Jim Gilmore's effort to rewrite history, and his failure to lay out a plan for positive change for our country," said Hall, the Warner spokesman.
Contact Jeff E. Schapiro at (804) 649-6814 or jschapiro@timesdispatch.com.