A candidate keeps faith out on the fringe

This article originally appeared in the Chicago Tribune.

August 14, 2007

Chicago businessman John Cox began his speech at last Saturday's Republicans presidential straw poll in Iowa talking about fairy tales.

Years ago, he said, he was reading a bedtime story to one of his daughters when she asked, "Daddy, do all fairy tales begin with 'once upon a time'? "

No, he said he told her, "There are a whole series of fairy tales, and they begin with, 'If elected, I promise... '"

Rim shot!

But there's another classic opening line to a fantasy that might have been more apropos:

"Once there was a man with little more than plans, programs and a passion for politics. Nobody gave his bid for office much of a chance but he started early, worked hard and, by and by... "

Cox, 52, has been trying to write a happy ending to that particular story for more than seven years, running without success for a series of offices—the U.S. House, the U.S. Senate, Cook County Recorder of Deeds and, over the last 17 months, President of the United States.

He hit the ground early and often in Iowa—27 round trips from Chicago so far. He's visited every county in the state at least twice and put out his platform through mailings, radio spots and cable TV commercials, he said. And he’s earned some respect along the way.

"John Cox is a great guy," said state Republican co-chair Leon Mosley. "John Cox is a patriot. People who’ve met and talked to John Cox like him."

Cox "comes across as thoughtful and credible," said Fergus Colin, the Republican chair in New Hampshire, where Cox will make his 21st campaign trip next weekend. "He speaks as well if not better than some of the other candidates."

Still, Cox has been unable to cross over. He's still on the wrong side of the divide between fringe candidates—the novelty acts humored gently by reporters and party bosses—and the merely marginal candidates— ideologues and single-issue zealots with just enough resume to get a seat at the table despite their single-digit showing in opinion polls.

He has been locked out of every major candidates’ debate so far, and here in his home state, Republican party officials are using that fact to keep his name off the straw-poll ballot Thursday at the Illinois State Fair.

Saturday, he finished 11th out of 11 candidates in the Iowa straw poll with three tenths of one percent of the vote.

"I was a little discouraged," he said when we spoke Monday. "But I understood. Who wants to vote for someone in a straw poll who's an unbelievable long shot? Let's face it, I've got a real credibility issue here."

He blames that problem on the media's failure to take him seriously and to consider his ideas, his speaking ability and his success as head of the Cox Financial Group, an investment management firm, as legitimate political credentials.

"I still feel that if I got the opportunity to let the voters get to know who I am and what I stand for, I’d have a chance here," Cox said. "I'm going to stick this out and see where it goes."

Of course the truth is that beanstalks will grow to castles in the clouds before a thoughtful, determined, articulate citizen who's not a military hero and not a billionaire (Cox's personal fortune, which he estimates at "somewhat more" than the reported $13 million, is tiny in this context) will get a fair shot to trade views on the national stage with major presidential candidates.

Yes, the civics books say it's not supposed to work that way—that politics and government are to be a meritocracy of ideas in a land where any child can grow up to be president.

And many observers chalk it up to extreme vanity or even a touch of insanity that Cox persists as though he believes the civics books.

Not me. John Cox is a social and fiscal conservative and I disagree with him on most issues. But I happen to admire his tenacity, his commitment and his deep faith, however misplaced, in himself, in the electorate and in happily ever after.