Meet the candidates: GOP's Cox serious about 2008 race

By John Beaudoin,
Publisher, Logan (IA) Herald-Observer
2/7/2007

[John] Cox, 51, is the former president of the Cook County Republican Party and helped with Jack Kemp's presidential run in 1988. Currently sitting on the board of the USO and FireWorks for Kids Foundation, Cox is a CPA, lawyer and investment advisor who owns five companies that deal in real estate investments, accounting, law and brokerage.

He recently passed through Harrison County, Iowa - his second trip here in less than a year - and sat down with Publisher John Beaudoin to talk about his campaign and why he believes the Republican Party has lost its way.

Q. How are you feeling about your campaign in Iowa so far?

A. We have a better ground situation than Mitt Romney (a Republican also running for President). My campaign is about the grass roots, going to the people and getting the candidate they want. Not the candidate the New York Times wants. I have been to all 99 of Iowa's counties.

Q. Following the Democrats' success in last November's mid-term elections, you noted that 'Republicans must once again act like Republicans' and that the 'Republican Congress let conservatives down.' Has the party lost its way?

A. We have a lot of Republicans in Washington that are not acting like Republicans. There are a lot of candidates that are talking about running, but not a lot of them are going to bring back the principles of Ronald Reagan. We haven't had someone who is speaking for Republicans. That was committed to with Reagan. He was not a career candidate. He did not get into politics until he was 55 years old. It should be about ideas and principles. It should be about changing the country for the better.

Q. What about some of the current candidates for President, on both sides? Are they too tainted by politics?

A. John McCain has never run a business. Barack Obama has never worked in the private sector, let alone running a business. McCain has been in the U.S. Senate and House for 30 years. I respect what he did in Vietnam, but we need something different in 2008. Most of these candidates are out of touch with the average American. I lived that American dream. I understand what is like to produce. America needs to project that image around the world.

Q. You have also trumpeted the cause to change the strategy in Iraq. What are your plans? Are you in favor of the surge in troops?

A. People think we are there just to dominate that country. We are there to spread prosperity. I am not for the increase in troops. We ought to put those soldiers on the oil wells and pipelines and get those wells going. I am not for cutting and running. That country is sitting on an ocean of oil. That should be a wealthy country. I would pull in the joint chiefs and tell them to do what is possible to get the oil flowing. Let's get that money in the hands of the Iraqis, building industry and building infrastructure. If they were at their full capacity of oil (five million a day), that's an extra $75 billion a year for that country. Iraq should be pumping it to the benefit of them, not for the benefit of us.

Q. What are your plans for the Fair Tax? Do people understand that concept?

A. I don't think it's been presented in the right way. I am a CPA, that's my background. If people would visit www.fairtax.org they could learn about a national sales tax. It doesn't hit the poor, because there are ample rebates for the poor. It doesn't increase the price. This is a 23 percent sales tax (retail sales tax). You want to encourage economic growth and you want to encourage investment. It's all about the economy. The tax code should not be used as a reward or a punishment. It should be used having the least impact on the economy.

Q. Where do you stand on gun control?

A. I am a lifetime member of the NRA. In every state that has enacted conceal-carry, the crime rate has gone down. I think gun control is a waste of time. Washington, D.C. has the best gun control laws and the highest crime rate. I want our resources to go to prosecute criminals.