Buddy Roemer For President?
The newest entrant into the 2012 Presidential race is someone whose name hasn’t even come up in conversations about the race:
The GOP’s white-bread presidential primary is about to get a dash of Tabasco.
Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer will announce Thursday in Baton Rouge that he is forming an exploratory committee, he told POLITICO.
“I should be president or somebody better than I should be,” Roemer said in an interview. “And the only way to make sure of that is to make [my opponents] go around me, through me or over me in the primaries.”
While Roemer is a native son of a state that witnessed a miracle last year — the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl — he faces very long odds. A former Democratic member of Congress who switched to the GOP in 1991, midway through his single term as governor, Roemer has been largely absent from politics since consecutive failed gubernatorial runs. In Louisiana circles, he is a onetime political wunderkind who is remembered more for what he might have been than what he accomplished.
But Roemer explained that his experience at the helm of a small bank that didn’t get bailout money and doesn’t exert much political influence in Washington has him worried about the country and wanting to join the debate.
Testing out a line he said he will use while on a maiden trip to Iowa next week, Roemer said: “The nation is hurting with 9 percent unemployment, 9 percent underemployment and 5 percent of the people who have quit looking for jobs, yet Washington is a boom town — what’s wrong with that picture?”
Roemer has no realistic chance, of course, and strikes me as equivalent to 2008 entries like Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo, neither of whom lasted very far past the first few primaries. Obviously, he’s aimed to increase his name recognition for one reason or another, though I can’t for the life of me figure out what it might be.
Well, if he wants to increase his speaking fees — the usual reason these people run, also known as the “Gingrich effect” — he should really focus on not speaking in straight lines.
Campaign slogan: Remember, the last time I lost the choice was between David Duke and Edwin Edwards. Vote for me or else.
I certainly agree with Buddy that someone who is better than he is should be President. Sadly, that still makes a pool large enough to include a whole bunch of people who aren’t qualified.
I”m from Louisiana although I now live in
texas. I remember when Buddy was Governer of La. He did a very good job for La which is known for their crooked officlals. I would vote for him any day. I also like the current governor, who would also make a good president or vice president. These are two GOOD men for La, which is usually lacking good officials..men and women. Go for it both of you!!!!!
I WAS VERY IMPRESSED WITH BUDDY’S INTERVIEW ON NPR!!! I’M NOT READY TO DONATE, BUT HE SPEAKS FROM EXPERIENCE AND DOESN’T HAVE THE “PAT ANSWERS” THAT MOST OTHER CANDIDATES HAVE. I LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING MORE ABOUT HIM AND FROM HIM.