Who Beat John Cox in New Hampshire?

What does a guy with a boot on his head, a fugitive and someone who spent just $1,000 on his campaign, and a man who was told by an angel to run for president have in common? They all beat John Cox in the New Hampshire Primary Tuesday!

Republican fringe candidate John Cox, who spent more than a million dollars over 21 months running for president received just 40 votes in New Hampshire’s First-in-The-Nation Primary Tuesday, Jan. 8.

He was, of course, beaten by John McCain, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani and Ron Paul, all of whom spent millions in the state to attract votes.

But he was also beaten by many fellow "fringe" candidates, as well as others not so fringe.
Cox was beaten by "write-ins." Yes, nearly 5,000 people wrote in a name not on the ballot, and it wasn’t John Cox.

Fred Thompson, who barely campaigned in New Hampshire, got 2,884 votes. Duncan Hunter, who ran a horrible campaign and showed up only a few times, got 1,220.

With all 301 precincts reporting, Cox, who came to the state nearly two dozen times, got just 40 votes.

Alan Keyes, who threw his hat in the ring at the last minute, got more: 220 votes.

Stephen Marchuk, a - local NH guy who spent exactly $1000 - his filing fee, got 120 votes.

Jack Shepard, a fugitive living in Rome, Italy wanted for questioning in an arson investigation, beat John Cox with 120 votes.

Tom Tancredo, who dropped out after Iowa, still got 68 votes.

Hugh Cort, a man who was being managed by a former Cox staffer, and who was exactly like John Cox, only more religious and instead of being obsessed with the economy, is obsessed with nuclear terrorism, beat John Cox, by getting 43 votes.

Albert Howard, who said on his blog that, "The Angel of the Lord told me in January of 1992 that Hillary Rodham Clinton and I would meet and be running against each other and that she would lose," beat John Cox by getting 43 votes.

Cornelius O’Connor, a complete unknown, got 41 votes.

Vermin Supreme, who wears a boot on his head and ran for reasons of satire, beat John Cox. He got 41 votes.

Cox, who did not receive ANY votes in the Iowa caucus, spent an average of more than $25,000 per vote in New Hampshire.

We are forced by reality to look back on this as a complete failure for the potato chip man from Chicago, who told the Chicago Tribune in December that it was "pointless" to continue running.

=========

McCain , John GOP 88,447 37%
Romney , Mitt GOP 75,202 31%
Huckabee , Mike GOP 26,760 11%
Giuliani , Rudy GOP 20,387 9%
Paul , Ron GOP 18,276 8%
Total Write-ins GOP 4,908 2%
Thompson , Fred GOP 2,884 1%
Hunter , Duncan GOP 1,220 1%
Keyes , Alan GOP 220 0%
Marchuk , Stephen GOP 120 0% - local NH guy who spent exactly $1000 - his filing fee.
Shepard , Jack GOP 75 0% - a fugitive living in Rome, Italy wanted for questioning in an arson investigation.
Tancredo , Tom GOP 68 0%
Cort , Hugh GOP 43 0% - Exactly like John Cox, only more religious and instead of being obsessed with the economy, is obsessed with nuclear terrorism.
Howard , Albert GOP 43 0% - "The Angel of the Lord told me in January of 1992 that Hillary Rodham Clinton and I would meet and be running against each other and that she would lose" (The angel was wrong.)
O'Connor , Cornelius GOP 41 0% - totally unknown.
Supreme , Vermin GOP 41 0% - A man who wears a boot on his head. I kid you not.
Cox , John GOP 40 0%
Wuensche , Vern GOP 39 0% - 62-year-old kitchen and bath renovation guy from Texas.
Gilbert , Daniel GOP 33 0%
Mitchell , James GOP 30 0%
Klein , Mark GOP 19 0% - Wants to be "America’s Shrink"
Fendig , Neal GOP 13 0% - County commissioner from Florida.

Live Blogging: Cox Being Thrashed in NH

Fringe candidate John Cox is being thrashed in New Hampshire's primary - by other Fringe Candidates.

Alan Keyes, Daniel Gilbert, Hugh Cort, various other no-names, and even former candidate Tom Tancredo who dropped out of the race, were all beating Cox as of 11:35 p.m. ET. Tuesday.

This has got to be discouraging to Cox, who was in the state over 15 times and spent a million dollars total on this race there and in Iowa. After getting ZERO votes in Iowa, these results must irk him.

Of course, he's now out of the race, having told the Chicago Tribune it was "pointless" to continue running. Good move, John.

Cox Told Tribune (on Dec 20) "It's a Lost Cause"

From Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune's end-of-year column "Catching up with early departures":

A local story that got considerably less attention this year was the quixotic bid for the presidency by Chicago businessman John Cox.

Cox began campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire in early 2006, visiting both states dozens of times and spending at least $1 million of his own money trying to become a contender in the crowded Republican primary field.

When I interviewed him for a column in August shortly after he finished 11th out of 11 candidates in an Iowa straw poll, Cox vowed to "stick it out" through the early caucuses and primaries.

But when I called him for an update Wednesday he said he'd closed his campaign offices late last month after having been excluded from yet another Republican debate."What's the point anymore?" he asked. "I always knew it was a long shot. But when the media made their decision not to include me, I figured it was a total lost cause."

Well, the fact is, Cox stopped paying for his New Hampshire office around October (and it had been vacant since March, 2007. It's now the Kucinich H.Q.) and his Iowa and South Carollina staffs had abandoned him already by early 2007.

So he ends his campaign on a lie. One more in a long train of lies his campaign was based upon.

Cox Wins Zero Votes In Iowa

Did fringe Presidential candidate John Cox win EVEN ONE voter over during the Iowa Caucus on January 3?

No. Not according to the Republican Party of Iowa's Website) and the New York Times report on the results.

Even FORMER presidential candidate Tom Tancredo, who dropped out on Dec. 20, 2007, received a smattering of 5 votes throughout the state.

I think we can safely say: IT'S OVER FOR JOHN COX.

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.

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.

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.

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."

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)

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.

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.

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%

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."

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."

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.

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.

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?"