The Congressman from Michigan's 11th District has declared his seemingly long-shot candidacy for the Republican nomination for President. He is the third sitting Congressman to declare his candidacy for 2012 joining Tea Party favourite Michele Bachmann and firebrand Libertarian Ron Paul.
McCotter will publicly launch his White House bid during 'Freedom Festival' hosted by Detroit talk radio station WAAM. Rather than being known as a political puncher in D.C. he is perhaps better identified by his love of rock music and for being one fifth of the bipartisan Congressional rock band the Second Amendments.
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| Photo by Gage Skidmore via Flickr. |
He caused some surprise last week when he stumped up $18 000 to reserve a prime plot of land for the Iowa Ames Straw Poll and will in fact occupy the same plot that Mike Huckabee used in 2007 where he finished second in the GOP primaries. He appears a long-shot at best and certainly starts out with even lower name recognition than the recently running Jon Huntsman who is seen as a possible victor who must first overcome the fact that few of the electorate actually know who he is.
On his website he claims to base his political positions around these "Five Core Principles." 1) Our liberty is from God not the government. 2) Our sovereignty is in our souls not the soil. 3) Our security is from strength not surrender. 4) Our prosperity is from the private sector not the public sector. 5) Our truths are self-evident not relative.
Motivations for his candidacy seem to centre around his dissatisfaction with the current candidates' plans for lowering unemployment and dealing with China. "They're fine people," he said of the GOP field. "But I don't think I hear anything coming from them that is going to help us seize this opportunity amidst the danger."
McCotter has somewhat of an independent streak and appears not to constantly pull the party line. He is well known for being a staunch supporter of former GW Bush's war in Iraq and for being the first Republican Congressman to oppose Bush's TARP bailout.
