Saturday, December 01, 2007

Cox Campaign: An Internal Server Error

In yet another sign that the John Cox for president campaign has gone "kerplunk" in the forest and no one has yet heard it, or cares, the Cox website at http://www.cox2008.com/ has reportedly flickered on and off, then off permanently (hat tip: Politizine).

UPDATE: The site went back online a few days later. His campaign remains utterly invisible to the voting public, however.

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

John Cox is Out of the Race. Or not.

On October 27, 2007, Cox all but conceded defeat during the annual Reagan Dinner in Des Moines, Iowa, sponsored by the Republican Party of Iowa, saying he would return to Chicago to start a PAC to promote "non-career politicians".

The Baltimore Sun blog said:
"Meanwhile, Chicago businessman John Cox, a little-regarded long-shot candidate who has run but failed in bids for local office, used his time before the audience to concede defeat in the contest. Blaming the national media for giving him scant attention, Cox said, "I've been doubting my own existence in the last few months" and he assessed his chances as being "about as strong as the Cubs chances of winning the World Series." He said he would soon return home and start a political action committee to promote non-career politicians."

The Huffington Post reported it about the same way:
"One of the most talked about moments of the evening came during an address by Chicago businessman John Cox, who all but conceded defeat in the caucuses. Cox has been unable to gain any significant support in the state, and joked with the crowd that he has about as much of a chance to win the presidency next year as the Chicago Cubs have of winning the World Series. He blamed the national media for ignoring his campaign and said that he plans to return to Chicago and start a political action committee."

But Cox says it was all a joke. Sort of.

The next day, Cox told the Rocky Mountain News that he was "not out of the race," giving his usual bitter rant against the national media, and again, conceding defeat.

"No, I'm not out of the race. I'm not technically out of the race. I've got a few opportunities to get a message across. But it's a realization that I'm not going to win."

(Huh?)

"I've put and invested a million and a half dollars and 18 months in this effort, and to be cast aside by the national media as not worthy of their publicity machine, that's sad for democracy."

The problem, of course, is that Cox got plenty of media attention. He just squandered it all by using almost every media opportunity to rant against the media rather than present a positive, Reaganesque vision to America. Frankly, no one believes he has such a positive vision in him. And for someone who sued the South Carolina GOP and threatened the job of the New Hampshire state GOP Chairman if he didn't get Cox into debates in these two stats (and remember he wanted a Federal judge to shut down the SC debate if he wasn't included) speaking about "democracy" is quite odd.

On Nov. 12, the Des Moines Register published yet another bitter, nasty and vengeful anti-media letter to the editor.

He has paid ballot fees and will appear on ballots in New Hampshire, South Carolina, California, and several other states, and he can also be included in non-fee caucus states such as Iowa and Nevada.

A Washington Secretary of State spokeswoman said ambiguously that Cox had "withdrawn" from that state's primary after he had sought inclusion on the state ballot; he has failed to make the ballot in a large number of primary states, such as West Virginia.

Whether he’s out or in has become a topic of discussion on his Wikipedia page, but it’s not at all clear that it matters at this point in the scheme of things. Though it does matter to those poor suckers who see his name or hear him ranting and end up throwing away their vote on him.

To waste a vote on Cox during this very important primary election season is a shame, and that’s why this blog exists - to get the word out that John H. Cox is a fraudulent, fringe candidate, not worth your attention.

Friday, October 19, 2007

Cox Raises $8,385 in Third Quarter, Spends $12,480

The Third Quarter fundraising and expenditure numbers are out for John Cox's fringe presidential campaign, and it doesn't look good. (read the full PDF here.)

The bad news is that Cox is still and ultra-fringe candidate with little public support.

The good news is.... um... well, he raised more than he did in the last quarter, $1,410.

Cox raised $8,385 from individuals, and loaned himself another $90,000.

He ends the reporting period (10/15) with just $1,963.63 on hand, truly a shameful figure for a presidential campaign. But then again, we have to remember that it's really an ego trip, not really a campaign at all.

Here's some breakdowns of his fundraising for this quarter, which came from a grand total of 21 contributors:
Raised in June: $50
Raised in July: $5,735
Raised in August: $2,375
Raised in Sept: $225

Some facts about these donors:
  • Most are retirees (his campaign seems to feed off retirees who think he's a legitimate candidate, or feel sorry for him)
  • 11 (half) are from Illinois.
  • Two gave the "max", $2300. One was a pathologist from Illinois, the other was an attorney from Illinois.
  • The lowest contribution was for $5, from a Chicago retiree.
  • The head of the Chicago PR firm Cox hired to gin up some excitement about his flagging campaign pitched in $1,000.
  • A Cox relative (named Cox) from Florida gave him one of the two $1,000 donations. He also received a $500 and a $25 donation from Florida. It's unclear if these are from relatives too.
Early state round-up:
Total raised in first-in-the-nation caucus state of Iowa: $10 (yes, TEN)
Total raised in the first-in-the-nation primary state New Hampshire: nothing (Chris Richter, what ARE you doing with Cox's money up there?)
Total raised in South Carolina: nothing

Elsewhere:
Connecticut: $25
Idaho: $25
Texas: $45
Missouri: $50
New York: $25
Nebraska: $50

Total raised since filing with the FEC on Feb. 13, 2006 = $21,901.51
Total SPENT since filing: $1,021,334.62 (yes, that's ONE million+)

Notable expenditure: Cox spent $2,500 for a South Carolina media company to produce an EMBARRASSING anti-immigration video, which featured a "Clone Warrior" from Star Wars in order to make a lame joke that was lost on its viewers and gave rise to much ridicule online.

Like a vampire needing blood but not getting it from the proper source, Cox kept his cold, atrophied campaign from rigor mortis, and infused with cash, by giving it his own life-giving money frequently:
$30,000 on 7/31
$25,000 on 8/22
$25,000 on 9/5
$10,000 on 9/20

It also bears mentioning here that the FEC has made TWO requests for clarifications about "odd" entries on Cox's past FEC filings. One they noted included expenses for "child support" in Texas. On who's behalf was Cox paying child support, and why was it from his campaign coffers? One supposes it was a paycheck withholding for an employee, but still, it's an odd entry.

Sunday, September 16, 2007

Cox Humiliated At New Hampshire Straw Poll

Our New Hampshire correspondent, a former Cox operative, says Cox was humiliated again in a straw poll, this time in Manchester, New Hampshire this Sunday.

Cox attended the poll but got only 3 votes out of more than 170 cast. In contrast, Ron Paul got 114 votes to win it. Cox will still likely crow about tying no-show Tom Tancredo and besting John McCain, who got 2 votes, but has also announced that he hates straw polls and won't compete in them.

Ou man on the ground says:

"Cox attended the event, spoke on the stage, and still only got three votes. How embarrassing! One vote was likely from Cox hanger-on Chris Richter, who was at the event, the other from a friend of Chris's who was helping him, and the other was from a woman who was heard (by me) to say, as she voted at the voting station, "I'm undecided, but I'll vote for this Cox guy, because he's the only candidate who showed up." Cox did show up, to his credit, but then ruined it by rambling on and on and on when he had his chance on the stage, prompting one guy to say "When's he going to shut up!" And yes, he started with his scary-crazy, unfunny 'bitch joke' - "I have four daughters a wife and a female dog" - which every paid operative in three states told him to stop using before they quit in disgust or were fired. The strange, out-of-context joke bombed yet again.

A bit of behind-the-scenes drama for your readers: Richter RAN over to an organizer of the event during Cox's rant because he was FURIOUS that one of the bands was breaking down their equipment on stage while his man was speaking on the stage in front of them. Cox was using a microphone, and was nearly yelling (as usual) so it wasn't as if they were drowning him out, but Richter was throwing a highly visible hissy fit in front of the stage because of the indignity of it all. Never mind that a former congressman and a declared '08 candidate for governor had also spoken while two of the bands that performed earlier had broken down their equipment. Cox is FAR too important for that, you know. How sad and pathetic. And typical. Apparently, Richter still worships at the altar of Cox.

Word spread around the event as they asked "What's that all about?" and every Manchester Republican was laughing about Richter by the end of the day. As if what you aptly called his "political suicide note" last week wasn't enough, this killed it for Richter in New Hampshire."

Tuesday, September 04, 2007

NH Cox Coordinator Writes (Political) Suicide Note

Johnnie Cox's man in New Hampshire, and probable ONLY supporter there, Chris Richter, wrote an amazingly BAD "open letter" to Republicans this past week. In it he condemned state Party Chairman Fergus Cullen for not taking Cox seriously.

After prattling on for about 200 words about his personal history in the party, Richter finally cuts to the chase and starts whining about his man not being taken seriously:

"On September 5th, the New Hampshire Republican Party will co-host the next Republican Presidential Debate. Invitations have been sent out, but once again John has not received one. Of all the debates thus far, we had expected John to be able to get into this debate. The thinking was three fold. First, New Hampshire prides itself on allowing lesser known candidates the opportunity to be heard. Second, John has campaigned in New Hampshire more than many of the other candidates. Third, John has given money to the state Republican Party, many of our local GOP organizations, and has had numerous dinners with State GOP Chairman Fergus Cullen. Apparently Fergus has no apprehensions to take John's money as a Presidential Candidate, just apprehensions to treat him like one."
Let's stop to digest this amazing statement.

New Hampshire allows fringe candidates to be heard, yes. But it does not guarantee them success. Many candidates in the past have campaigned there, and gotten the standard 300 votes out of hundreds of thousands cast. Going to New Hampshire doesn't guarantee votes, either. One politically active friend of this blog tells me that some have actually MOVED to the state, only to stubbornly remain known as "minor" candidates. (In fact, moving to the state seems destined to make one a "minor" or "fringe" player, because of the stink of desperation they then acquire, he says.)

Richter then talks about an email campaign he initated to get Mr. Cullen to change his mind about Cox. We're certain here at John Cox:The Facts that this amounted to about 20 emails, but we digress.

Richter reports that despite being wooed by Cox at dinner "numerous" times, Cullen's reasonable response to all of these has been:

"Thanks for the note. Hard work alone is not enough to give someone free national TV time. John needs to demonstrate an ability to persuade individuals to support him."
BINGO. Kudos to Fergus Cullen for nailing Cox and knowing that unlike in South Carolina, where Cox simply paid $25,000 and got on the primary ballot, or in Iowa, where he somehow convinced GOP officials to insert his name on the Ames Straw Poll ballot, the state party in New Hampshire showed him that they will not be bought.

Cullen also knows that Cox has not built any kind of base of support in his state, any more than he did in Iowa. He also knows that he is polling at a solid zero percent. That's 1 point lower than Brownback, who's at 1 percent or less in state polls.

Cue the lawsuit against the New Hampshire GOP. It didn't work in South Carolina, though, and it won't work in this case to get Cox on the stage with the REAL candidates.
No-Name Ray McKinney Thrashes No-Name John Cox

Well, the results are in from the Texas Straw Poll and they don't look good for Johnnie Cox. Fred Thompson dominated the event, besting naive son Ron Paul, 266 to 217 votes. Huckabee and Guiliani were a distant third and fourth with 83 and 78 votes, repepectively, followed by Romney with 61.

The rest of the field got the same as Romney combined, split between three no-names, the rapidly fading McCain (8 votes), and Brownback and Trancredo, both getting 6 votes for their tire-spinning campaign efforts.

While Cox is likely to issue a news release BRAGGING about beating these three, he'd better watch out for Ray McKinney of Georgia, who clobbered him 28 to 10 votes. McKinney's speech at the Texas event got rave reviews (at least on the McKinney blog).

Maybe McKinney should start a nasty, hateful campaign of spite against the media for not playing up his great "victory" in Texas against (as he puts it) "Two Senators, a congressman, a lawyer, and a doctor."

Somehow, however, we don't think McKinney would launch such a campaign. It seems like he actually understands that being positive gets results, and that atacking the media wouldn't work in his favor -- unlike Cox.

Results:
20.5% Fred Thompson (266 votes)
16.17% Ron Paul (217 votes)
6.4% Mike Huckabee (83 votes)
6% Rudy Giuliani (78 votes)
4.7% Mitt Romney (61 votes)

2.2% Ray McKinney (28 votes)
.77% John Cox (10 votes)
.62% John McCain (8 votes)
.46% Sam Brownback (6 votes)
.46% Tom Tancredo (6 votes)
.23% Hugh Cort (3 votes)

Monday, August 27, 2007

Cox Blasted by Human Events Writer

Craig Tufty of Human Events reviewed John Cox's pathetic performance at the Ames Straw Poll:

John Cox: is a good conservative successful businessman but doesn’t have a clue as to what he’s trying to do. He thinks government should be run like a business. (He’s apparently the new Mory Taylor. What is it with these Illinois businessmen thinking they can be president?) Sorry, Mr. Cox, but Washington is a one industry town and it is “politics.” If you want business go to New York and run the NYSE. Cox seems naïve and egotistical. He had maybe one or two supporters in crowd

Wow, he nailed him. It's almost as if he's met him - or worked for him. Except for that "good conservative successful businessman" sop. Truth is, he's likely a pretender in both realms.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Wokette On Cox

I thought I'd post the latest blog posting from the liberal Wonkette here, trashing the John Cox video on immigration - and featuring a Star Wars Clone Warrior - so that when the Cox campaign blogger posts it 6 months from now claiming it's "new" (or worse, "news") I can refer to it here.

It's hard to choose the best response to the Wonkette posting. Read them all, but here's a sample:

"I'm trying to set the whole Cox saga to Stairway to Heaven; here's as far as I've got:

I-in 2004/
Cox got beat bad by Moore/
41-59 in Cook Cou-oun-ty"

"Lost races for House in '00; Senate primaries in '02 & Cook County Recorder of Deeds in '04.
Because MEXICANS took those jobs!"

"As they say, a good way to start a presidential campaign is with a copyright infringement suit." (referring to Cox's use of a Led Zeppelin song.)
Attention-Magnet Cox Remains Fringe Candidate

Despite a pathetic result in the Ames Iowa Straw Poll Saturday (dead last, 41 votes out of more thand 14,000 cast) fringe candidate John Cox said he is continuing his race so he can get some more attention.

As he told KCCI-TV:

"In the straw poll, I think my chances are pretty bad. I'm probably going to be in the bottom somewhere," said candidate John Cox. Cox said a less-than-stellar showing at the straw poll does not mean he will drop out.

"You're not getting rid of me that easy," Cox said.

Cox said he sees the poll as a chance to be seen by national media who flock to Iowa for the historic event, and to get Iowa voters to take notice before they cast a more meaningful vote in the Iowa caucuses.

Those of us who have been following Cox's hopeless, often comical, bid for the White House - after losing three minor elections in a row - can't help but feel sorry for him.

We also feel sorry for 41 people who paid $35 a piece to attend the event, only to vote for such a fraudulent candidacy as Cox's.

Finally, we feel sorry for his business associates, his wife, his daughters and yes, even his bitch dog (it's in his stump speech) all of whom must be very embarrassed by this man's antics over the last 17 months - 17 months that has yielded him very, very little. A few fourth-place finishes at a few poorly attended straw polls, less than 1 percent in the polls (often no mention at all) and now this 41-vote disaster.

It's hard to get inside the head of someone who would put himself and his family through so much for so few results. If he thinks his campaign is "taking off," his has completely deluded himself.

We also wonder how, for someone with $11,000 in the bank at the end of June, Cox could have raffled off an $11,000 vacation. Hmmmm.

Saturday, August 11, 2007

Cox Dead Last in Ames Straw Poll

A measly 41 votes went to fringe presidential candidate John Cox in today's Ames Straw Poll, the real test of strength in the 2008 race. Everyone (except these deluded 41 people) now understands that this guy is a fraud and a poeser, and needs to go home to Chicago and leave the people of Iowa (and New Hampshire and South Carolina) ALONE.

Mitt Romney 4516 31.5%
Mike Huckabee 2587 18.1%
Sam Brownback 2192 15.3%
Tom Tancredo 1961 13.7%
Ron Paul 1305 9.1%
Tommy Thompson 1039 7.3%
Fred Thompson 203 1.4%
Rudy Giuliani 183 1.3%
Duncan Hunter 174 1.2%
John McCain 101 1.0%
John Cox 41 0.1%

Thursday, August 09, 2007

Latest Cox Video Draws Guffaws

Even for avid Cox-Watchers, the recent video for fringe Presidential Candidate John Cox is a knee-slapper of epic proportions.

With hard-driving rock and a confusing message (is it anti-Illegal, xenophobic and anti-immigrant in general, anti-Union, post-apocalyptic?) and even a voice-over from one of Cox's dreary, Castro-like four-hour speeches, this unintentionally funny video is one of those things that has the Internet chatting. Though nothing good is being said about Cox.

Take a look:




In one scene, notice all of the enemies of border protection. Whoever dreamed up this vieo got them right, I'll grant them that. But they also must have been a Star Wars fan, too, since they included a CLONE TROOPER from the prequels in the upper lefthand corner of the shot:

"Those DAMNED CLONE TROOPERS! They don't want to protect our Borders!"

Did someone think that this was actually a FUNNY video? More to the point, did someone think it was EFFECTIVE, and would win votes in conservative Iowa? It looks more like a racist Whites Only militia group created it.

Cox's latest attempt at drawing attention to himself has, predictably, yielded the same kind of attention he always gets him -- negative attention.

The Huffington Post's Cliff Schecter gets in his digs, so does South Carolina's Palmetto Scoop, which opines:

"It seems like Cox is presenting this as some sort of cry for help for America. But it’s more
likely that this is a cry for help for Cox: 'Hello? My name is John Cox and I want attention.

Will somebody please acknowledge my existence?'"

The Shot, more indelicately, headlines the video: "Rock out with Your Cox Out."

Monday, August 06, 2007

Droning Cox Speech Not Anticipated

Iowa columnist Todd Dorman has a hillarious column discussing (hypothetically) what will happen during the day of the Ames Straw Poll, including the speeches by presidential candidates. Pay special atention to what he says about Cox. He nailed it.
  • 12:45 p.m. – Candidate speeches:
  • Mitt Romney – “Fake Left, Run Right and Cross the Goal Line to Victory”
  • Tom Tancredo – “Good, Heavily Armed, Very High, Razor-Wired, Fully Electrified Fences Make Good Neighbors.”
  • John Cox – “A Good Time to Head for the Concession Stand.”
  • Ron Paul – “Hey, Don’t You Dare Groan When I’m Talking to You.”
  • Mike Huckabee – “I’m Reasonable, Articulate, Conservative, Smart and This is Probably My Last Speech as a Candidate.”
  • Duncan Hunter – “Geez, Quit Checking Your Watches.”
  • Tommy Thompson – “I’ve Been to All 99 Counties, I Ate 127 Tenderloins and I Know How to Pronounce Nevada. You Owe Me."

Wednesday, August 01, 2007

One Vote for Cox in Crawford County Straw Poll


Crawford County Republicans held a Presidential Straw Poll at their Crawford County Republican Fair Booth July 19-22, 2007. Results over the four days were as follows:

34 Tommy Thompson, Wisconsin
25 Mitt Romney, Massachusetts
17 Fred Thompson, Tennessee
15 Rudy Giuliani, New York
10 Tom Tancredo, Colorado
9 John McCain, Arizona
3 Sam Brownback, Kansas
1 John Cox, Illinois
1 Mike Huckabee, Arkansas
0 Duncan Hunter, California

To Cox's credit, he got about 12 votes in the Madison County Fair straw poll this past weekend. Of course, his Website is touting exaggerations to make this seem like a bigger victory.

They say Romney got 50% of the vote, Tommy Thompson got 23% and Cox got 12%, along with Huckabee and Brownback.

In fact, about 150 people participated in this totally unscientific "drop by the booth and vote" survey, with Romney getting 50 VOTES (or about 33%) and Thompson (IowaRadio.com says FRED) getting 25 votes. That means, if we're consistent here, Cox got about 12 votes, not 12%. Not bad, given the erratic and bizarre nature of this candidate.

Which means we have more work to do exposing this loon for the egomanic he really is, so another 12 people aren't fooled into thinking he's a REAL candidate.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Local Reporter Unloads on John Cox

It's not often that a small town reporter opens up and explains his initial reactions of their meeting with fringe candidate John Cox, but the reporter for the Mapleton Press unpacked his reflections and impressions of the $13,000 Man when he popped into a pizza parlor and blathered on and on and on and on to the three unfortunate people there.

Here's part of it:
Seems he told the Sioux City Journal that he's "No Barack as far as drawing crowds," [NOTE: Another WILD understatement!!!] but that's not going to stop him. Traci, Pete, their son and I were the only three people in the place. He rattled on about how we could win in Iraq if we could just have their power on for more than an hour a day and then zeroed in on me, like I'm gonna give him SO much publicity and it will be SO positive.

He goes on to unload on the "FairTax," one of the stupidest ideas ever conceived, in his view. And perhaps he's right. Although former Cox staffers have told me that Cox gives the most convoluted explanations of this proposal of any candidate. Either way, Cox sure made a BAD impression on this guy.
Another Bizarre Quote from Fringe Candidate Cox

Wow, what a bizarre quote Cox spewed out when speaking recently to a RECORD NUMBER of Iowa voters (uh... five of them.) Here's how the Des Moines Register reported it:


At Ryan's Family Steakhouse, 1900 N.W. 86th St. in Clive on Tuesday, there was only one sign on the door to let people know where to go to meet the man who would be arriving shortly.

And he was not a Republican presidential candidate.

"The luncheon for Niels Anderson is in the back room," read a sign just inside the restaurant's doors.

There was no mention of where to go to meet John Cox, 51, a certified public accountant and former executive officer of Jay's Foods from Chicago who is running for president.

Cox in March 2006 became the first person to enter the race for the 2008 Republican nomination for president.Cox, who will be participating in the Aug. 11 Ames straw poll, was not invited to a Republican debate at Drake University scheduled for Aug. 5. [NOTE: Because he is a nut case.]

But the longtime Republican activist is not deterred. He touts support as the top choice of 1 percent of likely caucus participants in a poll taken May 12-16, the same as Duncan Hunter and Jim Gilmore - who has since dropped out of the race - and more than Ron Paul.

"I may be at 1 percent, but relative to my name recognition, my poll numbers are pretty good," Cox said. [LOL!!]

The Clive event was his third of six stops in Iowa on Tuesday; he plans to hit seven more today.

Two of the five people who came to hear Cox speak said one thing in particular may be holding the candidate back."He doesn't seem to have the experience in government you'd expect from a candidate," said John Strong of West Des Moines.

No experience? No kidding.

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Cox Raises $5 in Kansas, Blog Discovers It

The Good News: The popular Race 4 2008 blog has discovered fringe presidential candidate John Cox!

The Bad News: They've discovered John Cox's fundraising prowess, too:
"I have one small question..."
Presidential campaign donations from Kansas:

Sam Brownback, R, $297,436
Rudy Giuliani, R, $96,450
Mitt Romney, R, $78,150
Barack Obama, D, $76,596
John McCain, R, $45,645
John Edwards, D, $34,327
Hillary Clinton, D, $29,660
Bill Richardson, D, $21,800
Joseph Biden, D, $19,400
Ron Paul, R, $15,355
Christopher Dodd, D, $8,100
Tom Tancredo, R, $4,340
Mike Huckabee, R, $2,800
Duncan Hunter, R, $965
Dennis Kucinich, D, $200
John Cox, R, $5
Source: Federal Election Commission

My Question is….
Who let John Cox borrow 5 bucks?

Update Question:
Do you think he’ll pay them back?"

Sunday, July 15, 2007

Faux Candidate Cox Raises $1,410 for President!

The Fundraising Facts on John Cox, fringe candidate for president, as of the June 30 filing with the Federal Elections Commission:

Funds raised in the 3-month filing period ending June 30, 2007: $1,410 (one thousand four hundred ten dollars)

Cash on hand at end of June 30 filing period: $11,354.61 (McCain's starting to look VERY successful at only $2.4 million, isn't he?)

Here's what Cox's increasingly sinking campaigned raised, by month:
Raised in April = $780 (includes one $500 donation)
Raised in May = $620
Raised in June = $10 (ten dollars on June 15, the final donation of the period)

Early primary/caucus state strength, measured:
Raised from Iowa = 1 donation of $50 (state coordinator Steve Huff, you're fired.)
Raised from New Hampshire = 1 donation of FIVE dollars ($5) (state coordinator/national coordinator Chris Richter, you're fired.)
Raised from South Carolina = two donations totalling $110 (state coordinator/national communications director Dan Herren, you're fired.)

Total raised since filing with the FEC on Feb. 13, 2006 = $13,515.51
That's 502 days, a total of $13,515.51, meaning $26.92 raised per day.

Loaned to the campaign by the candidate:
In this period = $160.803.75
Since filing with the FEC = $940,779.55

Most curious expenditures in this filing period:
$2,000 to the NH state Republican Party for "Debate expenses." Cox was not allowed in the June 5 debate, because he's polling at zero percent.

$600 to U.S. Dist. Court in Columbia, SC to sue the SC GOP in Federal Court in a failed attempt to force them to put him in a party-sponsored debate.

Conclusion:
The John Cox for President campaign? As of July 15, 2007 = 517 days of failure and counting.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

Fmr. Cand. Gilmore Bests Cox in Funding

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore is out of the GOP race, citing his inability to raise money.

Politico.com reported:

"Gilmore raised $170,000 in the first three months of the year and said he collected $211,000 in the quarter ending June 30, while the leading candidates in the race banked millions."

That's $381,000 in 2007 alone, for future reference.

Now, in reply, fringe candidate for president John Cox's one paid blogger online noted:

"It’s the end of the road for Governor Jim Gilmore who didn’t gain any traction in his bid for the White House."

WTF?

John Cox, who has burned through FOUR campaign managers so far in his 17 month Quixotic Quest for notoriety and fame, has raised LESS THAN $13,000 and has spent over $850,000 of his family fortune on this race. It's gained him ZERO in the polls, and his oft-touted magic in some minor straw polls has run dry recently with a string of pathetic failures in NH and PA.

This $381,000 figure means that in 2007 alone, Gilmore raised 29 times as much as Cox did in 2006 AND 2007 (he began running in Feb., 2006).

Mr. Adam Graham (the aforementioned blogger, writes, without a hint of irony):

"After Gilmore, it’s kind of tough to guess who’ll drop out on the GOP side. It’s easier to guess who’ll definitely be in. Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Ron Paul, and John Cox would be the only four that I can say with some confidence will be in the race come January."

HAHAHA! LOL!

Yup, those are the frontrunners, Mr. Graham. Keep on dreaming. How much are you being paid to keep John Cox in that list?

Our blog - along with several former Cox staffers - is waiting with great anticipation as the July 15 second quarter filing deadline approaches to see who John Cox fared. VOTE NOW in our poll on the right hand side of this blog to guess how "well" he did!

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Cox Creamed in NH Straw Poll, Beats Mickey Mouse

In what should have been a slam dunk for an outsider candidate who attended the event, fringe presidential candidate John Cox was still demolished and relagated to the single digits in a New Hampshire straw poll Saturday.

Our NH contact says Libertarian Ron Paul dominated the Coalition of New Hampshire Taxpayers event in Hopkinton, NH, with 182 votes.

Rudy Giuliani was a distant second with 22 votes, and Dan Gilbert, a businessman for whom former Cox campaign manager Bob Andrews now works, got a respectable 20. Gilbert, like Cox, spoke to the gathering, which attracted 294 activists.

Cox got 4 votes, along with non-candidate Fred Thompson, who did not attend. We expect a press release from the Cox people touting this glorious victory any day now.

Cox beat Robert Haines (a convict from NH who has one homemade sign), and George Phillies, a candidate for the LIBERTARIAN Party's nomination.

John McCain, Democrats Dennis Kucinich and Barack Obama, and Mickey Mouse each got one vote.

One activist who attended said Cox spewed the same rhetoric as he has in other venues. Another, a NH resident, said Cox appeared to be shouting during his rambling presentation ("Why does he shout so much?" he asked, puzzled.)

It's clear that this was a venue well suited to outsiders. If Dan Gilbert, a near-total unknown who has not campaigned anywhere near as long as Cox has, can do so well and convince 20 in the crowd to go with him, then Cox should have, also.

Except for the fact that Cox is a very scary speaker and his loud-mouthed, poorly thought-out rhetoric isn't flying with ANY voters. The people in NH don't see him as viable, and they are not alone.

Full results:

Ron Paul 182
Rudy Giuliani 22
Dan Gilbert 20
Mitt Romney 13
Huckabee 10
Tommy Thompson 9
Brownback 8
Duncan Hunter 6
Newt Gingrich 5
John Cox 4 measly votes
Fred Thompson 4
Tom Tancredo 3
Haynes 2
Phillies 2
McCain 1
Obama 1
Kucinich 1
Mouse (Mickey?) 1

Saturday, July 07, 2007

Cox Gets Goose Egg In PA Straw Poll

We expect there won't be any heavily spun press releases issued from the Cox Camp (what's left of it) about the Pennsylvania straw poll held Saturday. That's because Cox failed to place in it.

What? The GREAT John Cox? The SAVIOR of the party? The TRUE REAGAN CONSERVATIVE? It must be the media's fault.

It couldn't be the candidate's fault for failing to spend any time at all in the state in the past 500+ days he's been campaigning for president, could it? Could it be because his PA state chair resigned in disgust well over a month ago because he saw the writing on the wall and realized the campaign was going bust? Both are plausible explainations.

Usually, after every podunk, insignificant straw poll that's held in which Cox draws three or four votes, the world is treated to a ridiculous news release touting his "great victory" over Tommy Thompson and Jim Gilmore, who usually got one vote each, compared to Cox's two votes.

Here are the results of the PA poll:

87 Guiliani
40 Fred Thompson
12 Romney
10 Gingrich
7 McCain
2 Paul
2 Tommy Thompson
2 Tancredo
2 Brownback
1 Undecided
BIG FAT GOOSE EGG (Zero Votes) John Cox, the Thirteen Thousand Dollar Man*

*That's how much he's raised in 17 months of daily campaigning.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Cox Makes Fool of Self on "Tucker"
Carlson fails to do his homework on fringe candidate

Tucker Carlson winces during Cox MSNBC interview Thursday

GOP fringe presidential candidate John Cox appeared on the Tucker Carlson show "Tucker" Thursday and was grilled by Carlson about the damning Matt Labash expose in the Weekly Standard.

Tucker asked, “You don’t look frightening to me. You look sane. Why aren’t you beating Tom Tancredo or Duncan Hunter or Ron Paul?” Of course, he didn't answer truthfully by saying, "Well, Tucker, I've only raised $13,000 in the last 16 months of campaigning and can't seem to keep staff employeed longer than three months, because I treat them like dirt and trash them all behind their backs, because none of them are as competent as I am." But we digress.

Tucker Carlson then hit hard, asking Cox about his embarrassing fiasco at the Reagan Library debate

“As I’m reading about you, I’m thinking well this guy seems too good to be true. There must be something really eccentric about him that he isn’t getting more noticed. I couldn’t find much this is the only real eccentric thing I read about you and it’s in this brilliant profile of you by Matt Labash of the Weekly Standard. It has you during one of the debates, in California, you’re not invited to the debate, you’re shut out by the press so you stage a one-man debate wh you bsly rep to the questions, your wife hits the mute button on the TV as the other candidates respond and you respond into the camera and post it on YouTube. That’s a little odd.”

YEAH. Odd. Just like this fringe candidate, who snuck into that debate's Spin Room posing as a reporter. Nutty. Carlson then asks -

“Why did they [shut you out of the debates]? I mean it’s not just our network which sponsored that debate, it’s every network that has sponsored a debate. There’s got to be a reason.”

The reason he gave was some nonsense about the Washington DC echo chamber. But the truth of the matter is that Cox is a loon. And MSNBC knows it.

“John Cox. I keep waiting for you to say something crazy, or out of left field," notes Tucker near the end of his softball interview.

Tucker, you just haven't been listening. And you didn't do your homework for this interview.


NEWS FLASH: The latest defection from the Cox camp is his tireless media booker, a professional with a company of his own and a staff of over a dozen whom Cox fired on a whim and was reportedly BEGGING to keep the very next day, to no avail. The booker reportedly said to others that he was, "tired of taking his s**t."

The well-known Chicago-based booker got Cox interviews on CNBC, NBC, MSNBC (including the above Tucker apperance and one other 2-hour/3 appearance gig) and hundreds of radio appearances, many in major media markets like Orlando, Jacksonville, NYC, LA, Dallas and Chicago.

Of course Cox was greedy for even more attention than this, and frequently complained to all who would listen (including ON all the media programs he was on, including Tuckers') about how he was not getting on CNN and other outlets, according to the campaign staffers with whom I speak regularly.

Saturday, June 30, 2007

How LOW Can Cox Go (In Fundraising)? Try One Dollar!

The countdown to the second filing period for the presidential primary campaign is upon us, and some candidates cannot wait to tell the world about their success.

Fringe Republican candidate John Cox is not among them.

A former staffer in the campaign (and they are LEGION) tells this blog that he was informed that for the entire month of June, the campaign may likely lay claim to a single donation of just ONE DOLLAR! And that was from an employee of Cox'.

In an email he has seen, the campaign's electronic payment system spat out confirmation of a donation from a paralegal in Cox's law firm, Cox, Oakes & Associates. The amount? ONE DOLLAR. Quite a lot of faith his employees have in him, eh?

To be charitable, my source says this may simply have been a test to see if the system was broken, since my source has heard that we can expect a fundraising figure as low as $200 for the entire quarter. (Make that $201!)

Don't expect that kind of pathetic result to stop the million dollar man from unloading up to one million dollars of his not-very-huge fortune in a vain attempt to demand that the media recognize him as a candidate --- simply because he says so.

(I realize that if Cox now raises $300, or even $1,000, I have helped him lower expectations with this $201 prediction. But unlike fellow Illinoisan Barack Obama, whose team is lowering expectations from $26 to $20 million, a Cox "victory" of $1000 would be pathetic indeed, and inconsequential in the political race.)

Cox Spins Dismal Numbers in Straw Poll...Again

Once again, we're indebted to The Political Pale Horse for keeping up with John Coxmeister's ridiculous campaign for president, which is growing more and more desperate for news these days, apparently:
"Cox for President gleefully announced in a press release that John Cox “nips Romneys heels in Iowa Straw Poll” in Linn County. What they failed to mention is statistically Romney, Cox, Fred Thompson, and Ron Paul are all tied. They all came in between three and five percent.

Tommy Thompson came in at 33%, Brownback at 30%, and Tancredo at 15%. Even more interesting is presidential candidate Daniel Gilbert is statistically tied with John Cox. Who is Daniel Gilbert you ask? We don’t know either. At face value we still like him more than Cox. We just know this:

John Cox 4%
Daniel Gilbert 2%

What the press release should have said was this:

For immediate release:
Monday, June 25, 2007
Contact: Someone just looking for a paycheck

Daniel Gilbert nips Cox’s heels in Iowa Straw Poll
Cox still looks like a douche bag

(Cedar Rapids) – GOP presidential candidate John Cox came in at 4% in Linn County’s straw poll after suing anyone who laughed at his candidacy and spending nearly $800,000 of his own money. Daniel Gilbert, Cox’s chief rival, came in at 2% without doing anything other than putting up a website.

Cox had this to say. “The people of Linn County have spoken,” said the GOP candidate, “I am not an anti-Christ.”

Linn County is located in Cedar Rapids, well actually Cedar Rapids is located in Linn County. But Cox is too much of a joke to be able to afford competent staff that would know that. So he’s stuck with me. Don’t tell anybody, but I don’t know how to write a press release either."

Well, PPH nailed it. The question I have is just how many people voted in this STRAW poll? My sources say about 30, but it could be a bit higher. I doubt it.

Friday, June 29, 2007

John Cox offers his rear-end in place of political experience

Hat tip to the Political Pale Horse on this one:

John Cox was on the Steve Deace [show, in Des Moines, IA] where he offered his "rear-end" in place of any political experience of any candidate. Cox emphasized that his rear-end has “been on the line” several times in his 30 years of business experience.

He said that his “rear-end being on the line” made him solve problems by bringing people together. He then went on to bash Barack Obama and Richard Nixon.

If you want to listen visit this link.

Deace, who has had Cox on the show numerous times, noted for Cox that Obama at least has had experience being ELECTED to the Illinois state senate and to the U.S. Senate. Cox, of course, has never been elected to anything.

Cox said "I built a business from ZERO. I built a business from ZERO to a hundred million dollars of net worth." I'm sure the people at Chicago's Jay's Foods, where Cox worked for about a year as a finance officer, would LOVE to hear that their company was "zero" before he supposedly "ran" it. There are several statements that are incorrect in his statement, among them that he ever "ran" that company.

Bottom line: John Cox is "MR ZERO EXPERIENCE."

Monday, June 04, 2007

Here's How Cox Gets Into the June 5 Debate!

Fringe presidential candidate John Cox has been shut out of the Manchester, NH GOP debate on June 5 because he has no support, has not raised any money and is not gaining any headway with the national media, which thinks he's a joke.

Here are a few helpful suggestions for Cox to finally get into a debate:

1. Sneak into the "spin room" pretending to be a reporter. (oops, tried that at the last debate. Didn't work.)
2. Wear a wig and try to get into the door posing as Mitt Romney's "other" wife.
3. Have a one-man protest at the front gate holding a large sign saying "I'm a candidate for president, dammit. Let me in!"
4. Offer to pay CNN $20,000. Hey, money talks, right? (well, except for Cox, who's spent $850,000+ of his own money and has a grand total of five Kool-Aid-drinking supporters across the nation.)
5. Stay home and film himself responding to Wolf Blitzer's questions, then splice this into the actual debate, to make it seem like he was really invited (oops, did that one already, too.)
6. Hold a mock debate across town with himself and the other 25 fringe candidates. Post it on YouTube.
7. Stand outside the debate hall and debate himself, moving from one podium to another.
8. Take out another full-page ad in the New Hampshire Union Leader with the words "I'm a legitimate candidate! Listen to me! I'm important! I'm rich! You MUST listen to me NOW!" That will surely force CNN, WMUR-TV and the Union Leader to put him on the stage.

And, if worse comes to worse, he can simply tell everyone who didn't see the debate that he was there and did a WONDERFUL job, and that Wolf Blitzer actually endorsed him in the process.

Wednesday, May 30, 2007

John Cox Gets Four Votes In Des Moines Poll - MAJOR VICTORY!

The lone (paid) blogger for fringe presidential candidate John Cox recently bragged that Cox was "tied for 5th place" in the recent Iowa Poll, conducted by the Des Moines Register.

Kudos to Cox!

Except that the poll surveyed just 401 likely caucus-goers. That means Cox is known to FOUR Iowans.

Sure, he tied with Jim Gilmore and Duncan Hunter, but they have not been exactly shining in the polls elsewhere, either. In fact, Cox has been to Iowa a dozen times, and has crisscrossed the state and appeared on TV and radio literally hundreds of times.

Gaining four votes shows SOME support, but come on. It's nothing to crow about.

Then again, if you're John Cox's paid blogger, what ELSE are you going to crow about? His lack of fundraising? Suing the GOP to get into the debates? Being thrown off the property at the Reagan Library? Burning through $800,000 of your own money in an ego-tripping race for president?

Friday, May 25, 2007

Keep John Cox out of the Debates!

John Cox is a millionaire from Chicago who is trying to get some attention running for president of the United States. Unlike the dozens of other fringe candidates who sign up with the FEC as "official" candidates for president, this guy has actually gotten some attention.

While it's mostly NEGATIVE attention (like the Weekly Standard article revealing how he snuck into the Reagan Library debate disguised as a reporter, and how no one is buying him as a real candidate) some blog postings are showing some sympathy for the guy.

We all love underdogs, but Cox doesn't deserve sympathy, or pity. And he doesn't deserve to be in the debates.

Here are some reasons why:

1. He is not a real candidate. He is not raising money, for starters. He's brought in just $13,000 or so in 13 months of campaigning (he got in the race back in Feb., 2006!) The 10 *real* candidates are raising millions, or at least in the case of Ron Paul, hundreds of thousands. How is he going to get his message out? He cries that media outlets are not covering him, but is he running ads? If he can't raise money, how can he? How will he defeate Obama or Hillary without the ability to raise money?

2. He snuck into the Reagan Library debate - as noted above - and was escorted off the premises in humiliation. While not yet a felon, like fellow fringe candidate Robert E. Haines, he's becoming an embarrassment nonetheless. After the debate, he took the MSNBC footage and spliced his own comments and his face into the debate to make it look like he was invited and was actually answering Chris Matthews' questions. Spooky.

3. Ten are Enough. We have ten Republican candidates already on the stage. Some would say even that's a few too many, but others think having conservatives like Tancredo, Brownback, Huckabee and Hunter on the stage are more than enough to counter "Rudy McRomney" - the three frontrunners - and get a strong conservative message out. Ron Paul is a character all on his own. We don't need another nut on the stage, and Cox has proven he's a loose cannon.

4. Cox is not a serious candidate. He has not appeared in any polls, until recently, and now he's consistently at 1 percent or less. That is effectively "zero" if you count the margin of error. Cox's one paid blogger online likes to say that this one percent is equal to others in the race - including Hunter, Ron Paul and Tancredo, but this is not an argument for Cox's inclusion, it's an argument for the OTHERS to be excluded. As such, that's a fair point, but these other candidates have tens of thousands of supporters on the ground in early primary states, and have raised millions, making future campaigning possible. Cox likely has less than a dozen supporters across the nation. To his credit, he's scored a win in a poorly attended straw poll in a small South Carolina town, and brags about coming in fifth in one other.

5. Cox is not a serious candidate. ALL of the other "second teir" candidates, and of course the frontrunners, have held or are holding political office. Cox has never held elective office, and his one appointed position - "president" of the Cook County GOP - was created for him as a consolation prize after so many electoral faiures. Cox was a big donor to the Cook Co. GOP. The position was eliminated when he left it.

6. Cox wanted a Federal judge to decide who the SC GOP could and couldn't put on the stage in the May 15 South Carolina debate. Those mean old Republicans demanded that he get one percent in a national poll. Cox, as we've seen, can't seem to do that. Is Cox REALLY a Socialist? Because he sure doesn't understand that activist judges shouldn't be allowed to tell private institutions (especially political parties!) who can and cannot have access to their stage. When Cox "pays for this microphone" he can pretend he's Reagan. Otherwise, he needs to win some polls first and prove himself worthy of inclusion.

7. Cox was defeated for Congress, defeated for the US Senate and defeated for a dog-catcher position ("recorder of deeds") in Chicago. He cannot win even local elections. In each case, fundraising was near zero, and his campaign staffs were a quickly revolving door, due to the poor temperament of the candidate.

8. If Cox gets on the stage, why not the others? There are 26 others officially listed as of February, 2007 as GOP candidates fore president (there are dozens of others listed as "independents," Democrats and other parties.) If 10 people are too many on the stage, how about 37? Ridiculous? Perhaps. But this obscure businessman, with no elective experience and no fundraising and no chance of attracting sufficient numbers to EVER appear in a real poll, has no greater claim to be on the stage than any of these other "official" fringe candidates:

Daniel James Barnett
Dewey R. Broughman
Edward Allan Buck
Anthony Lungo Carter
Eamon Patrick Clune
Dr. Hugh Cort
Lowell Jackson Fellure
Robert L. Forthan
Anthony Keith Gallagher
Daniel A. Gilbert
Joe Honeychurch
Mildred T. Howard
Timothy Charles Kalemkarian
Philip A. Kok
Yaphet Kotto
Alden Link
Elvena E. Lloyd-Duffie
Yehanna Joan Mary Malone
James Creighton Mitchell
Robert Edward Edward Moreau
William Nathaniel Raven
Marshall Samuel Sanders
Freddy Irwin Sitnick
Michael Charles Smith
Richard Michael Smith
Johns Wallace Stevenson

True conservatives who are disappointed with the current field should NOT be fooled by this fellow or by the active paid blogger online who is pushing his inclusion in the debates. Look elsewhere among the "second tier" of candidates or outside the announced list (such as Thompson and Gingrich) for salvation. But don't be fooled by someone who cannot raise money, has serious "issues" with the GOP, behaves bizarrely, and cannot seem to win elections.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

Myth: John Cox Fails Because He's Not Included in Polling

Fringe presidential candidate John Cox and his paid bloggers are furiously pushing the notion that Cox isn't being successful in his race because he's simply not being included in polls.

Leaving aside the fact that all pollsters will include the name of a candidate if enough people volunteer it (usually as low as 12 responses guarantees placement on the poll and a MENTION in future polls) Cox simply isn't correct that he's being left out.

For example, he scored one percent (or thereabouts) in the latest Iowa Poll put on by the Des Moines Register, and he was actually mentioned. Here's what the pollster says:

I’d like to begin by mentioning the names of the candidates running for the Democratic and Republican nominations for president. For each name I read, please tell me if your feelings toward the person are very favorable, mostly favorable, mostly unfavorable, or very unfavorable.Arizona Senator John McCain. New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Former North Carolina Senator John Edwards. California Congressman Duncan Hunter. Connecticut Senator Christopher Dodd. Texas Congressman Ron Paul. Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson. Kansas Senator Sam Brownback. Illinois Senator Barack Obama. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee. Delaware Senator Joe Biden. Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. Former Virginia Governor Jim Gilmore. Colorado Congressman Tom Tancredo. Former Alaska Senator Mike Gravel. Chicago businessman John Cox.
Granted, the poll has a +/- 4.9 percent margin of error, so technically, he could be polling at a theoretical negative 3.9 percent, or zero. But let's give him that.

What this means is that Cox cannot compete in polling, and does badly even when included. In this case, it means that a massive FOUR voters (or three, if they generously rounded up) in the sample of 401 polled for this survey voiced support for him.

As proof that Cox, if he had any support, would certainly register in national polls, check out this wording from a recent Gallup Organization poll:
Next, I'm going to read a list of people who may be running in the Republican primary for president in the next election. After I read all the names, please tell me which of those candidates you would be most likely to support for the Republican nomination for president in the year 2008, or if you would support someone else.
The fact is, very, very few people are "biting" once they hear the long, strange saga of John Cox, the egotistical millionaire who can't get no respect, and doesn't deserve any.

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

"Invisible Candidate" John Cox Whines About the Media -- Again ....

The New Hampshire Union Leader features fringe presidential candidate John Cox whining about not getting media coverage.

This from a man who has been on FOX News, CNBC, MSNBC, and hundreds of radio programs in major markets CONSISTENTLY for over 13 months now, including every talk radio show in New Hampshire.

The fact is, John Cox cannot get anyone to support him, and his empty campaign coffers (less than $13,000 in contributions from people other than himself, as of April 1) illustrate this stark reality.

The article fails to interview anyone else other than Cox, who rambles on and on, implying that this or that New Hampshire veteran or businessman "LOVES" his message.

Former Cox campaign staffers have told this blog that his public claims of support, which he frequently repeats to the media, are often exaggerated or are proven false by alert reporters who follow up with those who have been (mis)quoted. Of course these are anonymous people Cox quotes to Rayno in his report - people whose supportive statements cannot be verified.

But the UL got it just about right in the first paragraphs:

Republican presidential candidate John Cox has spent more than a year campaigning in the early selection states of New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, declaring himself the true Washington outsider.

He has spent $800,000 of his own money hiring staff, organizing, printing campaign material renting office space, appearing on radio and paying for travel expenses because he wants to see change. But his message has largely been ignored by the national media.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Why Cox is Left Out of The Debates

Organizers of the Reagan Library debate and the May 15th SC GOP debate both left fringe candidate for president John Cox off the stage, and for good reason: He has failed to live up to the definition of “candidate” in almost every case.

The one thing going for him is that he’s declared he IS a candidate. That’s easy, though. Nearly 70 others have done the same thing with the FEC. That doesn’t mean 70 people should be on that stage, I hope.

But he’s failed in many other criteria. He has raised just over $10,000 in over a year of campaigning. That’s remarkably bad, given that he’s been on hundreds of radio stations (many, large ones in LA, Chicago, Jacksonville, Tampa, etc.) and has been on MSNBC and FOX News several times - although CNBC cancelled his appearance abruptly.

Cox has also failed to win in the polls, despite over a dozen trips to NH, SC and Iowa. He’s breaking 1% here and there, but mostly he’s at zero. Pollsters watch for people who “volunteer” names. Not one volunteered his name in a recent major poll, according to one national pollster.

This guy has some interesting ideas. So does my local grocer. Both he and Cox are not qualified to be president of the United States, and we don’t need five more pretenders like Cox, Jesus Michael Archangel, Mark Klein and John Smith on the stage, even though they have some great ideas, too.
John Cox Ties "None of the Above" in GA Straw Poll; Loses by a Landslide!

In a stunning victory for fringe candidate John Cox, which we are sure he will be touting on his blog and on his website, Cox gained ONE HALF OF ONE PERCENT of the vote in Saturday's Georgia straw poll, tying "none of the above" and fundamentalist candidate Sam Brownback (whose bloggers recently argued that the Sun revolves around the Earth.)

This is an AMAZING victory for Landslide Johnny, who claims he has won "several" (one) straw poll in an obscure South Carolina county.

Official results:
44% Fred Thompson
18% Newt Gingrich
15% Rudy Giulani
9% Mitt Romney
4% Mike Huckabee
2% John McCain
2% Duncan Hunter
1.8% Ron Paul
1.4% Tommy Thompson
1% Tom Tancredo
.5% John Cox
.5% Sam Brownback
.5% Voted for None of the above
No votes for Jim Gilmore

Saturday, May 19, 2007

John Cox Speech: "Random Forgettable Nonsense"

The Palmetto Scoop reports on the appearance of fringe candidate for president John Cox at the Georgia State GOP convention Saturday:
"Following Gilmore, John Cox - we would give him a title, but we’re not sure he’s ever had one - addressed the convention. After he named the six largest S.C. counties - the only ones he knows - Cox threw in a few token FairTax plugs, delivered the usual “had abortion been legal I wouldn’t be here today” line, and then yelled into the microphone about some random forgettable nonsense for what seemed like hours."

Friday, May 18, 2007

Fringe Candidate John Cox: "I'm a Fourth Tier Candidate"!

In a moment of clarity for the attention-starved fringe Republican candidate for president John Cox, he told a paper this past Wednesday following the South Carolina debate (of which he was not a part) that he was a probably a "fourth tier" candidate.

The first tier, of course, being Giuliani, McCain and Romney, and the second tier being all the rest (Huckabee, Brownback, Tancredo, Hunter, T. Thompson, Gilmore, and libertarian Ron Paul.)

All of the others have been elected to public office at some point in their lives. Cox has not.

Cox tried to get a federal judge to force the SC GOP to put him in the Wed. May 15 debate. He failed. The judge laughed the suit out of court.

The Charlotte Observer quoted Cox saying:

"I'm probably the `fourth tier,' " said John Cox, an Illinois businessman who lost a lawsuit to join the others on stage.

Picking The John Cox Swan Song

Hillary Clinton is seeking a theme song and there are lots of great ideas out there.

The Club for Growth (which, incidentally, won't have anything to do with John Cox or his hopeless campaign) has posted some good ideas for Hillbillery's theme song. But we think that they work just fine for Cox, too:

"Lost Cause" by Beck"I Can't Win" by The Strokes
"The Art of Losing" by American Hi-Fi
"Don't Know Much" by Linda Ronstadt and Aaron Neville
"Fly Me to the Moon" by Frank Sinatra
"Disaster Waiting to Happen" by Jefferson Denim
"Let's Call The Whole Thing Off" by Harry Connick Jr.

Any ideas for Johnny's farewell song?

Monday, May 14, 2007

John Cox Debate-Crashing Timeline

The Political Pale Horse blog has done an excellent job of detailing the increasingly odd and erratic behavior of fringe candidate John Cox during the Reagan Library debate on May 2.

It's hard to see how his behavior can be seen in any other way than bizarre.

This guy has very quickly moved from "longshot candidate" to "fringe candidate" and is well on the way to "lunatic fringe candidate."
John Cox Snuck into GOP Debate Posing As Press Photographer

Matt Labash, in a hillarious and deadly article for the Weekly Standard, "The Sane Fringe Candidate" (which could be used as a script for a Daily Show skit) shadows crackpot presidential candidate John Cox around as he snuck into the Reagan Library debate posing as Labash's photographer.

Labash tells the inside story about how he was promptly thrown out, and how Cox went back to his hotel room to "pretend" he really was in the debate by filming a video of himself making it appear that he had really been asked the questions on the debate stage. Very odd.

The resulting article is a very good read, made even funnier because it has been posted in full on the Cox campaign Website as if it was a positive article. I guess every mention in the press is a good one for this guy.

Here are some highlights:

The advantage of writing about someone who has absolutely no chance of winning is that you get to dictate terms. I agreed to see John Cox, but told him there'd be some conditions. I would not be manhandled or warded off at crucial junctures by any punk press secretaries. Also, I would be granted exclusive access. He told me nobody wanted access, so that wouldn't be a problem. He added that I'd better get out there shortly, he was having an important press conference on Monday. That would mean I'd have to fly to Chicago on Sunday. But it was perfect weather outside, and I wanted to get some fishing in over the weekend. "Can you bump it to Tuesday?" I asked. "I don't see why not," he said....

The next morning, I arrive early at the Intercontinental Hotel to get a good seat for Cox's brace-yourself announcement--that he has paid his $25,000 registration fee, and is on the South Carolina ballot. I needn't have bothered. There's nobody around, except for some California Closet Company conventioneers. When I ask the concierge where the John Cox press conference is, he says, "John who?" Cox's amiable press secretary, Dan Herren, a South Carolina political hand who's a Re/Max realtor on the side, tells me this isn't out of the norm. When Cox tells strangers he's running for president, a common reaction is "President of what?"

I find my way to the proper room. A "JLS Foods Inc." sign is still in the placard bracket from an event the day before. Only two reporters are there--a guy from a radio wire service and me. Cox, who is silver-haired and trim, immaculately tailored in a charcoal suit with a blue pinstripe, looks disappointed but not surprised. He muses that it doesn't help that the nationwide May Day immigrant-rights rallies are taking place the same day. Not only are illegals taking our jobs, they're taking our publicity.

Still, even while he makes plenty of noise about the need to seal our borders, the corrupt Mexican government, and a crackdown on businesses that hire illegals, he will not set his hair on fire by becoming a pandering immigrant-basher--he points to fellow GOP hopeful Tom Tancredo as an example. "I refuse to lower myself," says Cox. "I'm a businessman. I've got clients. I'm not going to make myself out to be a buffoon." [NOTE TO COX: TOO LATE]

Cox eyes us two journalists, then says, "No need to go there," nodding at the podium. Instead, he pulls up a chair next to us. "It's much more intimate this way," I say, trying to make him feel better. "Most of my gatherings are pretty intimate," he says, with a pained smile....

Before joining up with Cox, I'd told him that I was credentialed for the debate, so he should get someone from his campaign to apply to be my photographer, which Herren had done. The next day--debate day--we arrive early at the press credentialing table. I pick up my lammie, and Dan picks up his, giving it to Cox. Cox and I board the media shuttle bus at the bottom of a hill that runs us up to the Reagan Library. Cox, it appears, will have his day in the spin room.

But he is unhappy about the whole arrangement. It demeans him, he feels. I tell him to get with the program. His look is all wrong. For one thing, he's wearing American eagle suspenders over a crisp, white dress shirt. If he wants to pass for a journalist, he can't go around looking patriotic. "Put on your suit jacket," I tell him. As we arrive at the Library and walk through its gates, I give him more pointers on how to pass for a reporter. "If you see anything free, especially a drink, take it," I say. I hand him a prop reporter's notebook, and tell him if anyone asks why he's not holding a camera, since he's supposed to be my photographer, tell them he's taking mental pictures...

We are bounced from the debate before it even begins. As we ride past the fringe-sters on the curb--Ron Paul supporters wearing dolphin suits to illustrate Mitt Romney's flip flops, guys in "Stop Chemtrails" hats, etc.--Cox grows reflective:

"Am I an anarchist?...is it going to be attractive to go into politics where you've got to steal a press pass to get heard?"

Indeed. Not very attractive at all.

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Fringe Candidate John Cox Barred from Debate

Below is an article in Saturday's "The State" (SC) newspaper discussing the failure of fringe presidential candidate John Cox to use the courts to force the SC GOP to include him in Tuesday's debate.

It's clear that he isn't a serious candidate in South Carolina (or elsewhere, actually - watch for the "money quote" in this article) and the court saw through his dangerous dog-and-pony show as he tried to prove the courts should be in the business of ordering political parties to place fringe candidates onto a stage for which THE PARTY has paid.

It's interesting that his lawyer in this case (who also happens to be his law partner in Chicago) discounted Cox's chances for victory in '08 in an interview the LA Times late last year, saying, "Realistically, he's a long shot." No kidding.

Judge denies John Cox’s bid to participate in S.C. forum
http://www.thestate.com/426/story/61872.html

Tuesday’s Republican presidential debate in Columbia is still on, and Illinois hopeful John Cox, who wants to be in the debate, is still out.

A federal judge rejected Cox’s suit to halt the debate, which has been in planning for months by Fox News and the S.C. Republican Party, ruling the sponsors had no obligation to include him.
“This is a nonpublic forum,” said Judge Joe Anderson. The debate will be telecast nationally, and Fox News and the S.C. GOP, acting as private parties, have the right to choose who will be in the debate, as long as their exclusions are not based on a candidate’s political viewpoint, Anderson said.

Ten candidates will participate in the Republican debate, scheduled for 9 p.m. Tuesday at the Koger Center.

S.C. GOP attorney Lawrence Richter argued that Cox, who also did not participate in the May 3 Republican debate in California, did not meet the criteria to be included in the South Carolina face-off.

Those criteria require debate participants to have received at least 1 percent of the vote in a recent state or national poll leading up to the May 1 registration deadline. The participants also had to pay a $25,000 filing fee to the state GOP and be a serious candidate for president.
Cox’s attorney, Christopher Oakes, argued that the debate is a public forum and that the media and the party prevent candidates like Cox from polling well by leaving their names off polling data.

Further, Oakes argued that other little-known candidates such as former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore and 10-term Texas congressman Ron Paul also hadn’t polled the requisite 1 percent in both a state and national poll, but will be allowed to debate Tuesday.

After Anderson asked the two sides to resolve the polling issue among themselves, Richter and Fox News attorney Vernon Dunbar of Greenville put up a poll contradicting Oakes’ claim.

“The record is not clear whether or not some candidates invited have met the 1 percent threshold,” Anderson said in issuing his ruling. “But it is clear that Mr. Cox has not.” [Note: This is a PRICELESS quote!]

Oakes said he and his client will discuss the ruling and decide whether to appeal Anderson’s decision Monday in the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

"I'm No Crackpot" Says Crackpot Candidate John Cox
(Includes the "Cox Quote of the Week")

from the Chicago Sun-Times

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Chicago businessman John Cox, a long-shot presidential candidate, said Thursday he will protest his exclusion from a May 15 GOP presidential debate in South Carolina.

Cox, who also was not part of Thursday's Republican debate in California, said Americans are ''going to miss my contrarian view up there.''

''I'm no crackpot. I'm no threat to anybody,'' Cox said. ''It's not like I'm some anarchist or something like that.''

The South Carolina GOP and Fox News Channel agreed to rules requiring candidates to muster at least a 1 percent showing in polls to earn a spot in the debate to be held in Columbia.

Cox ran for U.S. Senate in 2002 and lost. He ran again in 2004 and dropped out.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Technorati "WTF" Essay on John Cox

"Republican presidential candidate John Cox is one of what political insiders call a "fringe" candidate: Ruthless in their ability to self-promote, no chance in hell of ever being able to win an election, and perpetually angry about their lot in life."... (more)

Click HERE to read it all (be sure to vote for this excellent expose!)
2003 Article Describes Cox' Failed Senate Race

Here's an oldie but goodie about ANOTHER failed campaign John Cox ran. Why did John Cox fail in his 2003/04 race for the US Senate (hint: No fundraising)

Total fundraising to date for his 2007/08 presidential run: $13,000 (rounded up to the nearest thousand, to be generous.) What is that they say? "The more things change..."


Conservative candidate Cox pulls out of GOP race for Senate
Chicago Sun-Times, October 9, 2003

BY SCOTT FORNEK Political Reporter
Republican millionaire John Cox decided not to put his money where his mouth was this time around.

The Gold Coast businessman and radio talk show host plans to fold his bid for U.S. Senate today, opting not to dip into his personal wealth to make up for fund-raising that one source described as "embarrassing."

"Fund-raising was a huge problem, and he had to make the decision whether he wanted to self-finance or not," said another source close to the campaign.

Always ready to mix it up with his rivals, Cox, 48, was one of the most vocal of the nine announced GOP candidates in the race to succeed Republican Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. But today Cox is expected to throw his support to state Sen. Steve Rauschenberger.

"John is concerned that if you've got a bunch of conservatives fighting it out for one vote, the problem is that maybe a more moderate candidate who doesn't have the same views as Steve and John would emerge from the primary," said Nicholas Tyszka , Cox's campaign manager.

But even if he wanted to fund his campaign himself, Cox likely could not have paid for the entire contest without wiping out his fortune. The primary and general election could cost upwards of $15 million, and Cox filed documents showing his net worth somewhere between $1.4 million and $9 million.

Just last year, he reached into his pocket for $1,022,507 to pay for a failed run for Senate, after dropping $548,000 on an unsuccessful 2000 bid for Congress. This time, Cox vowed to rely more on outside contributors, but a disclosure report due later this month "would kind of been embarrassing," a source said.
Blog Skewers Cox on MSNBC/politico.com Debate Forgery Video

The To the Right blog has posted a hilarious overview of John Cox and his latest antics:


"Cox is an Illinois businessman who is running for President. He previously lost primaries for a Senate seat and a House seat. He also lost a County Clerk race. He is now running for President because he thinks that the Republican field is lacking a conservative, despite the fact there are at least five conservatives running who have actual qualifications.


As if this weren’t pathetic enough, Cox has edited himself into the first Republican debate. His campaign took the MSNBC footage of Chris Matthews asking questions and has it cut to an awkward shot of Cox responding. As of now, his campaign has apparently pulled the video after relentless mocking by several Colorado blogs (PPH and CCP). Cox apparently thought that by editing himself into the debate, people would be fooled into thinking he was really there. We wonder how this tactic might work under different circumstances.


Cox is currently asking a federal court to force Fox News to place him in the next Republican debate because they are violating his constitutional right to free airtime on a cable news network, or something…


If this were Japan, John Cox would probably be forced to kill himself to save his family and household any more shame. Since this is America, he’ll probably end up with a radio talk show somewhere that no one listens to"