Today former Gov. Jim Gilmore officially jumped into the race for senate against his successor to the governor's mansion, Democrat Mark Warner. The Warner campaign wasted no time in welcoming him to the show (h/t Raising Kaine.)

"Virginians will have an opportunity to make a clear choice between two starkly different records and two dramatically different styles of leadership. [...]

"We look forward to making the case for Mark Warner's brand of commonsense, results-oriented leadership. We welcome Jim Gilmore to the campaign and we look forward to a spirited discussion."

As has become common practice, Gilmore announced his run via an online video, and a quick side-by-side comparison of the two former governors' respective campaign launch videos really couldn't make their differences in style more clear.

Gilmore's video is dark, the camera is static and Gilmore looks shifty, uncomfortable and bored; Warner's video on the other hand is bright, the camera is in constant motion and Warner projects confidence, friendliness and, well, acts as though he's already won.

Perhaps the greatest contrast, though, can be found in what is actually said. Both Warner and Gilmore talk about the challenges facing the country but while Warner talks of war, our stature in the world and our need for a responsible and innovative energy policy, this is how Gilmore frames the country's biggest challenges:

These are challenging times for our country. We're threatened by terrorism, concerned about a difficult war, stuck in traffic...

{thud}

No wonder, then, with such an inauspicious senate campaign debut, that a young Virginia state Delegate considered by The Hotline to be an "up-and-coming star of Virginia politics," Chris Saxman, would confirm that he's "strongly considering" a challenge to Gilmore at the nominating convention next year. Gilmore is a guy whose tenure as governor ended in 2002, so people know him and have pretty much made up their minds about him and still the most support he can manage to garner against Warner in a head-to-head match-up is 37%. In other words, nominating Gilmore is essentially conceding the seat.