Congressman Thad McCotter to run for U.S. President

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Republican Congressman Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan confirmed Friday, after weeks of hinting, that he will run for President of the United States. McCotter, who has represented Michigan's 11th congressional district since 2003, has launched a campaign website and plans to publicly announce his intentions Saturday.

McCotter broke the news during an interview on Detroit's WJR-AM radio station. He has publicly considered running since May when Fox News' Red Eye host Greg Gutfeld asked him if he would enter the race. Last week, McCotter reportedly paid $18,000 to appear in Iowa's Ames Straw Poll in August.

The run follows the release of McCotter's book Seize Freedom!, whose title serves as his campaign slogan and is featured on his website below the warning: "Your American Dream is endangered". McCotter has outlined five "core" principles for his campaign:

"Our liberty is from God not the government"
"Our sovereignty is in our souls not the soil"
"Our security is from strength not surrender"
"Our prosperity is from the private sector not the public sector"
"Our truths are self-evident not relative"

Although McCotter previously stated that "if I run, I would be in to win", he received only two votes in a Republican Leadership Conference straw poll two weeks ago, and lacks the name recognition of his fellow challengers for the nomination. Charlie Cook of the The Cook Political Report rated it "virtually impossible" for McCotter to be nominated.

Other candidates for the Republican nomination include fellow Representatives Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and Ron Paul of Texas as well as former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr., former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and businessman Herman Cain.

An adviser said McCotter is dissatisfied with the current candidates and "has something to say and has some ideas and some policies to put out there that nobody else is discussing right now...his presence in the race is going to force these issues and force this discussion that the country has to have right now."

According to The Detroit News, next month, as he campaigns for the presidency, McCotter plans to propose a social security reform bill.

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Sources

Lucy Madison. "Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter to jump into Republican presidential race" — CBS, July 1, 2011
David Shepardson and Nathan Hurst. "McCotter making 2012 presidential bid" — The Detroit News, July 1, 2011
Alex Pappas. "Thaddeus McCotter’s presidential slogan: ‘Seize Freedom!’" — The Daily Caller, July 1, 2011
"Online Guide to the 2012 Presidential Candidates" — Ron Gunzburger, 1997–2011
"About Thaddeus" — US House of Representatives, 2011

External links

Thaddeus McCotter's campaign website

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