John Cox: Hardest Working Presidential Candidate You've Never Heard Of

This article originally appeared on nhpols.com: original link

By Beth LaMontagne
August 23, 2007

Chicago businessman John Cox is the hardest working presidential candidate you've never heard of. This past weekend, Cox attended six events around the state, from the Candia Old Home Day parade to the air show in Portsmouth. He was at barbeques, Greek Festivals and the only presidential candidate to attend Manchester's Latino Festival.

Although Cox has a New Hampshire campaign office on Elm Street and a state field coordinator, he has gotten little to no media coverage and has been excluded from participating in all of the televised presidential debates. He may not be registering, or even included, in the polls, but Cox is far from giving up. A staunch conservative who favors major tax reform, reducing regulation and school choice, he finds the current pools of Republican candidates lacking. In an interview with NHpols.com this week, Cox said he feels he is the fiscal and social conservative people are still looking for.

How would you describe yourself politically?
"I'm a Reagan conservative. I know there are a lot people who take that tack these days. It's pretty popular. I was on Jack Kemp's national steering committee in 1988. Jack Kemp was the natural heir to the Ronald Reagan agenda. Kemp was the author of the Reagan tax cuts. ... I've been a member of the Club for Growth, which was an outgrowth of the Kemp campaign, ... since it started.
"I'm also a social conservative, a very committed social conservative. I'm a pro-life Catholic. I'm a member of the Knights of Columbus ... and a life time member of the National Rifle Association."

What do you see as the single most pressing issue facing our country today?

"It has to be national security. When you have a group of religious theocrats in Middle East who have access to tremendous amounts of wealth I think you have to be concerned about that. And Iran is hurtling toward the development of nuclear weapons ... I think national security has to be the most important thing. It's the saddest thing to me that none of [the] other Republicans have put forth the ideas of resolving the Iraq conflict like I have.
"I look at the fact that Iraq is an economic basket case as a national of a security issue. We have focused on building a government, not an economy. [After World War II in Germany and Japan] we built an economy first. We built factories and put people to work. Building the economy, it's also key to dealing with Iran. If we could get Iraq to be a prosperous country, I think it will not only stabilize Iraq will show Iranians [that] America stands for prosperity."
Why did you decide to run for president?
"I look at Romney. I don't believe his conversion on conservative issues. ... Rudy Giuliani is totally on the wrong side on a whole lot of issues. ... The trouble is, I've been burned by George Bush."

Why have you stuck it out so long, considering you haven't been included in the debates and have been getting little media coverage?

"I suppose one reason [I've stayed in the race] is because I can. I have the resources to continue the race. I see people who are supportive of what I'm doing, and, to that extent, I get inspiration from the fact there still isn't anybody out there who isn't a realistic alternative."

Is that what American conservatives are looking for? Somebody besides these top candidates?

"Yeah, definitely. You can see it in all the polls. None of the above is winning the races. It's because Romney is the only one with the money and getting all the media attention. The national media [feels] if you are not in elected office or a celebrity or a billionaire, you aren't a real candidate."
How many people do you have working for you?
"About 12 to 15 people on staff. We're not Romney. Clearly I'm not raising the kind of money Romney's raising. I'm continuing to hope for a media breakthrough to alert the American people to the fact that I exist and I have ideas and support something worthwhile. That's why I'm continuing the good fight."

Where else have you been campaigning besides New Hampshire?

"I pretty much have confined myself to the early primary states. New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina. From my standpoint, I don't need to or want to do a national [primary] campaign. I'm hoping again in some point in time the media would pay attention to what I'm doing."

Do you find the New Hampshire electorate different from voters in other states?

"I think the major issues that are hitting people are the same everywhere. New Hampshire voters are a little more upset about the Iraq war, I would venture. I think New Hampshirites are probably on the order of magnitude more upset about loss of life and money that's been spent [in Iraq]."

If you won the presidency what would be the first thing you would do after being sworn in?

"I think probably the number one domestic priority is to [enstate] the fair tax. This country needs economic growth at this juncture. I think the way to get that economic growth is to get a new tax system. Convince the American people the system has out-lived its usefulness. Clearly the first priority on a national security level is to address the issue of Iraq."

Beth LaMontagne can be reached at blamontagne@nhpols.com.