I endorse Chris Cox for the Vice Presidency
By Whacker77 Posted in Archived — Comments (26) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Now that John McCain has essentially locked up the Republican nomination for president, much of the chatter in conservative circles has turned to potential vice presidential nominees. The conventional wisdom suggests McCain needs to choose someone with a verifiable conservative record, someone with executive experience, and someone who geographically balances the ticket. Not surprisingly, the names of prominent Republican governors have received a great deal of attention.
While governors such as Tim Pawlenty, Charlie Crist, Haley Bourbor, and Mark Sanford have all been prominently mentioned, I believe John McCain should think outside of the political box. Conventional wisdom is just that, conventional and even boring. Rather than choose someone who simply addresses McCain's perceived weaknesses, he should instead choose someone who not only addresses those weaknesses, but also someone who can be seen both as a future president and future leader of the conservative movement.
I believe Chris Cox, current chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission and former California Congressman, should be John McCain's vice presidential running mate. While he may not geographically balance the ticket, he addresses the main conservative criticism of McCain. With out a doubt, Chris Cox is a verifiable conservative. In fact, he received a 98% rating from the American Conservative Union during his 16 years as a Congressman. With Cox in the fold, conservatives would have a seat at the table.
During his tenure at the SEC, Chris Cox has picked up valuable executive experience which John McCain lacks. The conventional wisdom suggests that a governor is best suited to fulfill this need, but Cox's executive experience at the SEC can be a valuable asset during times of economic and financial market uncertainty. We should also not forget that Cox earned his MBA from Harvard’s School of Business. In fact, he later served as an income tax professor at his alma mater. Who better to make the case for Bush's tax cuts than a former professor of the federal income tax system at Harvard's Business School?
Chris Cox also presents John McCain with a unique opportunity to exploit one of the issues that animates conservatives the most, the federal judiciary. At the same time Cox earned his Harvard MBA, he simultaneously earned his Harvard law degree. He also put his law degree to use in both the private sector and in the Reagan White House. Most importantly, President Bush was set to nominate Cox to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in 2001, but Senators Feinstein and Boxer blocked his potential nomination. Who better to make the case for the importance of a conservative federal judiciary than a blocked nominee?
Best of all, Chris Cox is someone we could all easily envision as a future president and leader of the conservative movement. I would be the first to admit that most voters don't select presidents based on their running mate, but Cox is certainly someone who could inspire conservative voters. While not Reagan, Cox exhibits an optimism and intellectual heft that previous national conservative leaders have lacked. Despite his conservative record, Democrats, liberals, and the more liberal sections of the media would find it tough to convince the public Cox is a right wing extremist.
I would be the first to admit that the nomination of Chris Cox is very unlikely. Almost certainly, the party establishment will urge John McCain to select a governor who they believe can deliver a state. While electoral politics can be very tempting, I hope McCain uses this opportunity to continue the Reagan revolution of which he claims to be a foot soldier. A McCain presidency provides a unique opportunity for the Republican Party to rehabilitate its battered image. If McCain wins and delivers a successful first term, the skids would be greased for Chris Cox and conservatism to retake the White House and the intellectual high ground lost during the past eight years.
Once again for these reasons and many others, I support the nomination of Chris Cox for the vice presidency.
Some people might be concerned with his time at the SEC. The Democrats might find a way to tie him to corrupt CEO's. It seems like a reach to me, but we'll find out.
Every veep nominee has weaknesses. But CC would strengthen McCain in the critical "young and vital" category.
I like the idea of a "McCain/Cox" ticket. It's bold and daring. McCain may need to shake up the deck a little bit. If he can't excite the general electorate a little bit, then he will have confirmed our worst fear: that we nominated the wrong guy. (Thanks Huck!)
Proudly supporting John S. McCain for President (McCain/Romney?)
However, he is not young (56 on election day). He is not a an exciting guy, unless you are trying to lock down the CFO demographic.
In this cycle, the Democrats are energized, and there are more registered Democrats than Republicans. We have to go beyond just turning out the base. We have to get some of their voters, otherwise we lose. And it has to be an all hands effort. I just do not see how Cox helps.
Also, their are only eight weeks from the convention to election day, and I feel that is not enough time to get Cox introduced to the electorate, get them excited, and have him make an impact.
He would be perfect for Sec Treas, Sec State, Sec Defense, AG, or SCOTUS.
In fact, I think AG is the best position for him - unless he has aspirations to the court.
You don't have to be a governor or a senator or some prominent political figure. Cheney certainly had a good career, but by no means did he stand out politically.
He could do a lot worse.
-------------------------------------
"As nations can not be rewarded or punished in the next world they must be in this."
- George Mason
Cox could do the same for Mack.
Proudly supporting John S. McCain for President (McCain/Romney?)
______________________________________
Donate to the Rs in Close Senate Races through Slatecard
on this very idea of Cox for VP. Take a look,
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=12769
-------------------------------------
"As nations can not be rewarded or punished in the next world they must be in this."
- George Mason
Much of his career was as a senator from California wasn't it? California and Arizona isn't probably an ideal geographic balance.
but I don't think geographical balance is going to play a large role in the selection. And having a "Western" ticket wouldn't be a bad thing for helping the Party expand beyond the increasingly regionalized base of the Party in the South. CA, AZ, NM, NV, CO are good places to increase the R margin. The only other "region" that would make sense is the midwest which would call for a Pawlenty VP pick. MN, WI, MI, OH, and IN all have important House races and most have close margins for President (although I don't expect that will be true in 2008).
______________________________________
Donate to the Rs in Close Senate Races through Slatecard
Cox is one of the really brilliant shining stars of the conservative movement. Someone who has the ability to be either a President or Supreme Court Justice. I am 95% certain that he graduated from the combined MBA/JD program at Harvard with high honors (not just Harvard Law - but Harvard Law/ Harvard Business School). This was the same program which Governor Romney also graduated from (with honors or high honors).
I believe that McCain should wait for things to develop before getting a handle on what he will do with the Veep - certainly waiting until AFTER the dem ticket is picked.
But I agree totally - there will be a need for an out of the box solution in this troubling campaign year. Cheney was such a choice - and a great one. I have been keeping up with all the VP chatter - and this is the first name which really lit me up as imaginative, a great potential pick, and something which actually could happen.
Great idea - great piece of writing.
I don't understand how one could argue that I McCain lacks any experience on any issue, given his tenure in the Senate. Although Cox can unite conservatives, no doubt, I am not sure he can bring new voters into the fold. Furthermore, those running mates who could not bring their state along with them, and I don't think Cox can, have historically been on losing tickets. John Edwards, Jack Kemp, etc., etc. Where Dan Quayle, Al Gore, and Dick Cheney where all on winning tickets.
JC Watts for Vice President
Please sign the petition here.
"Character is simply doing right when no one is looking."
The fact of Gore and Quayle being on winning tickets doesn't seem to me to have anything to do with their ability to bring home their state. Neither WY or IN was in contest - they were solid Republican wins anyway.
Bringing in a contested state has always been one of the possible arguments for given VP's. The classic being LBJ, who was reportedly despised by JFK and many of the Camelot folks. But they needed Texas, and he got it in a razor tight election.
The candidates who have been touted for their theoretical ability to bring in a purple or blue state (Crist, Pawlenty, Lieberman), are not sure things - and have hosts of other problems.
IMO, McCain has NO CHANCE to win without a solid conservative base - not just for their votes, but their money and volunteer work. And the buzz of enthusiasm which they have, which persuades Swing Idiots ("moderates") to support the Republican ticket. with a depressed conservative base, McCain could lose in a blowout - and create real problems down ticket.
I could enthusiastically back, support and work for a McCain ticket with a young conservative President of the Near Future as his running mate. Cox fits that mold. Watts does, sort of, though I don't rate him as highly in the capability area as Cox. Jindal is another on a list of possibles (Rush calls him the "next Reagan"), though probably a cycle too early.
If McCain picks an uninspiring, mush moderate as running mate, he can forget seeing the White House in 2009, except to visit President Obama or Clinton.
This is the best nutshell I've seen for McCain's ideal VP pick.
I voted early in the Florida primary. Find out who and why.
I meant to say:
"I don't understand how one could argue that McCain lacks experience on any issue..."
JC Watts for Vice President
Please sign the petition here.
"Character is simply doing right when no one is looking."
but yes he would be great. He would bring some balance to McCain's self-proclaimed ignorance about economics. Cox also has a very calm assured adult demeanor, which would be helpful in the perceptions game.
It is SPECIFICALLY Chris Cox's tenure at the SEC why I would NOT vote for him. Cox has done little to nothing to alleviate the blatant theft on Wall Street by the Prime Brokers and corrupt hedge funds. That particular issue being "Failures-to-deliver".
Anyone incapable of making the easiest change in the way stock transactions are handled by the DTCC is certainly incapable of honestly leading this country, either because he is totally inept or has been bought off by the Wall Street elites. IMO, it is the later.
Allowing criminals to sell what they do not own, having the DTCC pay out honest investor's money before the criminal's deliver, and the Prime Brokers profiting on both ends of the fraudulent transaction smacks of corruption at the highest levels, especially when the idiotic policy could be changed as easily as snapping their fingers.
The proof of this criminal activity is clearly evident in, but not limited to, the Regulation SHO Threshold List.
Not "no" to Chris Cox, but "HELL NO!!"
A mind is like a parachute, ...it only works when it is open.
Thank you for making us aware of the left wing talking points against Chris Cox. We've got at least one vote against capitalism.
No, thank you for pointing out how ignorant people, when faced with issues they know nothing about, resort to ASSumptions over honest debate.
Perhaps you would be so bold as to explain how advocating the protection of personal investments in the markets is against capitalism. Of course, I would recommend that you learn what the Reg SHO Threshold List is and what it actually means.
Just as ignorant is someone taking an opposing position based on absolutely no knowledge of the person proving to be more informed. A person like this would likely make a great reporter for the NYT.
A mind is like a parachute, ...it only works when it is open.
"Member for 21 hours 45 min"
I hope your next 24 hours go better than your first.
I voted early in the Florida primary. Find out who and why.
I think. Not sure what the length of my tenure here has to do with anything other than having my interests adequately captured by other sites.
I was drawn here by an invitation to attend a bloggers conference in Chicago by the Sam Adams Alliance which is having Erik Erikson as a guest speaker.
Having never been to this site, I decided to give it a peruse. Given my interests in the stock markets, I was a bit surprised when a supposedly conservative website was endorsing Cox for VP (or anything else).
I know him (Cox)to be an inept and/or bought off facilitator to the Wall Street criminals also known as the Prime Brokers/stock exchanges/hedgefund operators.
I tend to get a little rubbed when someone who is obviously not as brilliant as they would like the public to believe makes assinine assumptions about me while choosing to resort to childish name calling techniques in a lame attempt to boalster their position.
My "welcome" (by others) was less than amiable to say the least.
Oh, for what it is worth, I think Governor Bobby Jindal is an exponentially better choice than Cox, and as a fellow Louisianan who happened to campaign for our new Governor, the only drawback for me is that Mitch Landrieu (Katrina Mary's brother) would become Governor should Governor Jindal become the Vice President.That would be a (another)disaster.
A mind is like a parachute, ...it only works when it is open.
I once thought Pawlenty would be a good VP pick, especially with Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan being such close contests in recent elections. But then I started hearing his voice on radio ads with the NM governor, calling for an immediate cap on greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/14167711.html
For me, McCain could potentially really screw up 4 things, judges, taxes, immigration and global warming. Of these three, conservatives have already shown they can stop bad immigration plans. Judges and taxes are big concerns, but McCain has made clear, solid statements about both of them and he knows we are watching. That leaves one main concern for me...global warming.
I think it is significant that McCain has never backed off on his plan to cap greenhouse gas emmissions to reduce global warming. The MSM will never call him on this and so far he has answered conservatives concerns by focussing on taxes, judges, immigration and pork. He ignores global warming and campaign finance reform and gives no indication that he will listen to conservatives on these issues. I believe any solid conservative could be considered only if they have not joined McCain in swallowing the global warming koolaid.
For me, Romney is the best choice for VP for one reason: it would be a clear indication that McCain "gets it" and is ready to acknowledge and value our support and ideals across the board, even where he disagrees with us. The fact that Mitt might be good for turning MI red and give a boost in states with significant Mormon populations out west is a nice bonus.
Chris Cox would be an excellent VP pick for McCain. He is what Mitt Romney claimed to be: a "full spectrum" conservative with extensive business (and legal) experience. Mark Sanford remains my first choice but at least Cox would not have to spend time explaining the Confederate flag.
The downside is that I don't think he puts any states in play but then again, despite the myth, what Vice Presidential nominee ever does?
Any down side?