But I think there was a sense amongst the House Republicans especially that we didn't just want to be opposed to Bill Clinton; that we wanted to tell the country what we were for and to brand ourselves in a more positive manner.

In 1999 Gillespie worked as the Press Secretary for the Presidential campaign of John Kasich until his withdrawal from the race. He served as Chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia from December 2006 to June 2007. [citation needed]
In April 2012 Gillespie was appointed as a senior advisor to Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign.

Gillespie along with Jack Quinn former Chief of Staff to Vice President Al Gore founded Quinn Gillespie & Associates a bipartisan lobbying firm. Gillespie is an American Republican political strategist senior advisor to Mitt Romney 2012 and former Counselor to the President in the George W. Edward W.