There is no shortage of candidates running to be our next President – so why am I doing what I am doing? In short, it is because conservative Republicans have for too long been taken for granted and worse, taken for fools by our elected leaders. We have had too many say they were conservative when they wanted our votes; only to watch them almost turn into liberals once they were elected.
I am glad we have George W. Bush as President instead of Al Gore. Having said that, like many conservatives, I am very disappointed in what the President and the Republican Congressional leadership did with the power we gave them. No Child Left Behind, Medicare Part D, Sarbanes – Oxley, the immigration sellout, the failure of tax and social security reform, the spending, McCain-Feingold, and on and on – not to mention rampant corruption. It didn’t have to be like this: and we need to demand something different. That’s why I am running for President.
I have labored long and hard in the Republican vineyards behind the scenes; I was President of the Republican Party in Cook County, Illinois – a thankless task in one of the biggest blue blotches on the political landscape. I go back a long way, serving on Jack Kemp’s national steering committee in 1988, becoming one of the original members of the Club for Growth (which came out of the Kemp campaign), a longtime funder and proponent of both economic and social conservative, pro family causes. I am a long term, dyed in the wool conservative, brought to the Republican Party by Ronald Reagan; believing that government isn’t the answer to our problems, government is the problem.
I am a conservative because I believe that conservative solutions solve problems, just as Reagan believed. You want security? Build the strongest, most powerful military so no one ever would think of challenging you. Want a functioning economy? Enforce the rule of law and create tax and regulatory schemes that allow for the free flow of capital. Want the best health care and education at a reasonable price? Increase supply, reduce demand and ensure fair competition – that is the free market writ large and has from time immemorial proven to be the best way to assure the availability of the utmost in quality at an affordable price.
John Cox
John Cox is a Presidential candidate for the Republican nomination.
He is the author of three publications, "Campaign for Prosperity and Renewal", "A Blueprint for the Renewal and Rebirth of the Illinois Republican Party" and he has just completed his new book on changing American politics by bringing back statesmanship: Politic$, Inc.