Sept. 21, 2006
 
COMMENTARY: John Cox: Bringing the GOP Back to Its Conservative Roots
 
By Jim Kouri Special to Huntington News Network
 
"I'm seeking the presidency because we need a true outsider to address the difficult problems we face," announced GOP presidential hopeful John Cox last March.
 
John Cox is sure to remind anyone who'll listen that two of the nation's greatest presidents -- Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan -- came from his home state of Illinois. He hints that maybe it's that time in history when a true conservative from Illinois sits in the Oval Office again. While Lincoln freed the black slaves from their misery, and Reagan freed Eastern Europeans from the bondage of communism, perhaps John Cox is the man to free Americans from oppressive taxes and regulations, as well as the burden of BIG government.
 
"Too many of the potential candidates in 2008 are senators, governors and other career politicians who have supported greater spending, higher taxes or short-term fixes to long-term problems," said this decidedly conservative Republican from the great State of Illinois.
 
Cox, a successful businessman, believes that America is at a crossroads. He's aware of the bitter truth that major challenges went unanswered during the Bush administration: A tax system that punishes savings, a social security system bound for demographic disaster, schools that are failing and don't have much hope of change, rampant illegal immigration, and a war on terror that has still failed to unite this country and the world.
 
"I truly do not believe the other potential candidates -- all insiders and professional politicians -- can speak to the American people, gain their trust and move this country forward," he said in an interview.
 
At a time when the party faithful have become disenchanted with their leaders, perhaps Cox is the candidate who can bring the spark of hope and confidence back into the GOP, a party that appears to have forgotten its conservative roots.
 
Cox often tells people that he's the candidate with real world experience, not a career politician who believes being elected or reelected is the priority. In his career, Cox created real jobs, served as a school board president, and chose activism over political expediency in a "hardball" state.
 
As a businessman, Cox recruited a team of managers and turned a failing company into a $100 million profit-making corporation.
 
He looks at his competition for the Republican nomination, especially front-runners such as Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and he sees "professional politicians who are insiders, part of the corrupt system that has spent our children's future and failed to address the important issues we face."
 
But does John Cox have a chance of beating politicians with household names? He believes he can.
 
"I am bringing this campaign to the real people of America -- the people who live, who work, who raise their families, who struggle, who educate their children and worry about them each and every day," he says.
 
"I am talking to the American people as one of them. I am talking to the American people as a business professional who has made a career out of solving people's problems. I will rally them around Progressive Conservative solutions that use the free markets, competition and the human drive to solve problems that government cannot," he said.
 
One of the major priorities -- if not the priority -- for a presidential run is financing a national campaign. And Cox knows he'll be going up against candidates with huge war chests and big donations from Political Action Committees and corporations. Yet, being a successful businessman helped Cox to provide what he calls his "campaign seed money."
 
"I will rely on the American people to respond to our message of statesmanship and public service, of limited government, strong defense and traditional values. We will wage a grassroots campaign directly to the American people and tap the power of the Internet to raise funds," said Cox.
 
John Cox recognizes the reality of today's political landscape: without safety and security, the American people will not have a robust economy or a future. Cox believes that national security should never take a backseat to pork-barrel projects and social programs that cost billions but never solve the problems they were created to solve.
 
"We need to remember the principle of limited government and our inherent right to freedom and opportunity. We must also respect the traditional values that have been the bedrock of American life and the essential foundation of our success. The respect for life, the care of our children, and the compassion for our elderly are all the traditional values we have built our society around," Cox said.
 
The John Cox web site: http://www.cox2008.com/
 
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Jim Kouri is currently fifth vice-president of the National Association of Chiefs of Police and he's a staff writer for the New Media Alliance (thenma.org). He's a former chief at a New York City housing project in Washington Heights nicknamed "Crack City" by reporters covering the drug war in the 1980s. In addition, he served as director of public safety at a New Jersey university and director of security for several major organizations. Kouri has appeared as on-air commentator for more than 100 TV and radio news and talk shows including Oprah, McLaughlin Report, CNN Headline News, MTV, Fox News, etc. His book “Assume The Position” is available at Amazon.Com. Kouri's own website is located at http://jimkouri.U.S.