John Cox - the facts

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