McCotter making 2012 presidential bid
David Shepardson and Nathan Hurst/ Detroit News Washington Bureau
Washington? Rep. Thaddeus McCotter will officially kick off his bid for the White House on Saturday, he said this morning.
The Livonia Republican, now in his fifth term in the U.S. House, has been publicly mulling a run for the nation's top office for more than a month after being prodded into considering it by Greg Gutfeld, the late-night host of Fox News Channel's "Red Eye," just weeks after the release of McCotter's book, "Seize Freedom!"
McCotter ? who confirmed his plans this morning on WJR-AM (760) by saying "I'll be announcing tomorrow ... that I'm running" ? plans to file paperwork today with the Federal Election Commission. His website,
www.mccotter2012.com, is already up and running, and it reflects his book's title and message.
"Your American Dream is endangered," the McCotter 2012 home page warns. "Seize Freedom!"
Visitors are asked to join the campaign's mailing list, and are shown what McCotter is calling his "five core principles," which include "our liberty is from God not the government" and "our truths are self-evident not relative."
McCotter has secured office space in western Wayne County for his campaign and has hired a former speaker of the Iowa House, Chris Rants, as a campaign adviser and is working to hire advisers in New Hampshire.
He becomes the third conservative member of the U.S. House to throw his hat into the 2012 GOP ring: Reps. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Ron Paul of Texas also are running.
McCotter had told reporters in Iowa he would announce a decision before Aug. 12. He first told reporters in late May he was considering a run. He also raised eyebrows when his campaign reportedly paid $18,000 to take part in the Ames Straw Poll in Iowa in August.
Sources said McCotter will make his announcement at a Saturday appearance at the WAAM Freedom Fest in Whitmore Lake. He's slated to take the stage at the festival at 8 p.m., and will play with his band later in the evening.
McCotter's flirtation with a presidential bid over the past five weeks has had its ups and downs. At a Republican gathering in New Orleans two weeks ago, he came in last in a straw poll with just two votes of support. But last week, he was the second-biggest spender when staking out space for the Ames Straw Poll, the August fundraiser for the Iowa GOP, reportedly spending $18,000 for the second-best space at the hotel hosting the event.
McCotter, who recently traveled to New Hampshire, which holds the first presidential primary, plans another trip July 9-10 to the Granite State and plans to unveil Social Security reform legislation next month as he mounts a long-shot campaign.
McCotter, a former Wayne County Commissioner and University of Detroit alumnus, is married to Rita, a nurse, and has three children. He began telling advisers Tuesday night he had decided to run. In addition to his return to Iowa for the straw poll, he is planning fundraising efforts in New York and California next month.
In announcing his kick-off earlier today with Beckmann, McCotter said he was spurred to run because he felt Americans were resigning themselves to the U.S. teetering on the precipice of leaving its best years behind.
"These are the things that we're not hearing from the candidates out on the stump, and I'd like to get that message out, see if there's room for it and see how people respond to it," McCotter said. "This is the way you have to do it."
National political observers, however, have questioned whether he can. Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report put McCotter's chances of winning the nomination at "virtually impossible."
McCotter laughed off being written off, but said he viewed the opportunity as serious.
"I'm under no illusions as to the difficulty of it," he said. "If you're talking about challenging the American people, then you have to challenge yourself. But it's certainly worth doing."
From The Detroit News:
http://detnews.com/article/20110701/POLITICS02/107010412/McCotter-making-2012-presidential-bid#ixzz1QtDUrvlR
