Matt Labash over at the Weekly Standard takes a look at fringe Republican persidential candidate John Cox's struggle to be taken seriously by the establishment. Cox has won a South Carolina county straw poll, so he does have some supporters. He wasn't invited to the recent Republican debate in California.
"In the red flag department, he has run unsuccessfully for office in Illinois three times: in a congressional, senatorial, and Cook County recorder of deeds race. But even in his most recent loss, in 2004, his high principle was in evidence. He spent around $200,000 of his own money running for the recorder's job on the promise to eliminate the position as wasteful spending if he won--the kind of idea that used to fire up conservatives back when they were, how to put it, conservative."
Sounds like my kind of guy, and he wants to eliminate the IRS. I would rather see a Flat Tax supporter over a Fair Tax supporter, but the man sounds like he could be a serious candidate if anyone would listen. He's released several YouTube videos of himself discussing various issues, including Republican principles, immigration, the IRS, and Iraq, see a list here.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
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4 comments:
Your kind of guy?
Is your kind of guy the kind of candidate who poses as a press photographer to get into the spin room of a debate? Or who creates a video, editing it to make it look like he was invited to the debate, and participated?
Kind of pathetic, actually.
First, anyone who reads my blog here will note that I am a Fred Thompson fan in the political sense of the word, and likely to support him should he decide to run. I do like to look at the other candidates, if nothing else to get a feel for where they stand.
Second, what is truly pathetic here the political establishment's attitude. Here is a successful businesman who is self financing a run for President, who wins a straw poll in SC, but the establishment won't even let in to a primary debate more than six months before the first primary.
I'll also note for the record it was the reporter's idea to sneak him in with the press pass, and that Cox never tried to hide the fact he wasn't a reporter- he pretty much went out of his way to blow his "cover" with the site security.
I'll also note he answered all the questions in the debate, in a serious and responsible manner, unlike the actual participants, who only answered some of them, and often not terribly well, and he has simply made his answers available to anyone tha was interested via perhaps the best available route for an unconventional candidate.
I'm far more interested in what the candidate's views on the issues ARE than the format in which the issues are addressed. It's terribly unfortunate the man can't get a fair hearing for his views on the serious issues addressing our nation. Even nutcase lefty trolls have their right to free speech, even if you might not like what they have to say or it doesn't make any sense.
I'll also note that "he's my kind of guy" was meant to mean that Cox's view on the issues, and many of the principles he espouses, are many of the same ones I share. It is a shame he is having so much trouble getting them aired they deserve a least a hearing by the citizens of the country.
I would stick with Thompson. He has a strong chance of winning something. Unlike John Cox, who has lost several races for lesser office already.
Whether he is a good talker or not, or has some interesting issues or not, is irrelevent.
Fringe candidates like this have about as much chance of becoming president as your barber does, and aren't really worth the effort.
For the record, straw polls are pretty much worthless as indicators of strength. Cox has been included in MANY polls by reputatable pollsters and he's never even shown up in them.
I never indicated that I was seriously entertaining the idea of supporting Cox; I just wanted to highlight the political establishment's attitude towards his candidacy, unlike other fringe candidates that have no real chance of winning, like, say, Ron Paul or Dennis Kucinich.
And I would add that on the contrary, anyone that adds something substantial, something worthy of examining in more detail to the debate IS relevant.
Cox might have an idea on immigration or some other issue that another, more popular candidate might adopt for his run that pushes him over the top for either the nomination or the general election, which is one reason I believe these early days of the campaign are really inmportant.
If one truly important or innovative idea or policy proposal comes out of it, then the early campaign (despite much of the popular naysaying) just might be worth it.
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