Pro-Life GOP Rep. Thaddeus McCotter Running for President

Politics   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Jul 1, 2011   |   10:37AM   |   Washington, DC

Chances are that unless you live in Michigan or closely follow politics you’ve never heard of Congressman Thaddeus McCotter, a pro-life Republican. That’s not stopping the lawmaker from throwing his hat in the GOP presidential ring.

McCotter is filing the appropriate paperwork with the FEC today to enter the 2012 presidential race and seek the GOP nomination to take on pro-abortion President Barack Obama. He is joining a crowded field, which includes several pro-life advocates who have significantly more name recognition and money and a much better shot at getting the nomination.

However, the congressman recently spent four days in Iowa and reportedly came away from visiting the site of the first caucus battle feeling positive about his potential presidential bid. Former Iowa House Speaker Chris Rants will become McCotter’s top advisor in the Hawkeye State despite supporting Mitt Romney in 2008. The former Massachusetts governor is running once again.

“I spent a good portion of this week introducing McCotter to Iowans as he was out here to gauge interest and get a read on the current field of candidates out here,” Rants wrote in an email, according to Politico. “Should he decide to run, I will be on board to help him navigate the Hawkeye state.”

McCotter takes a pro-life position on abortion and, according to the National Right to Life Committee, has a 100% pro-life voting record — both in this current session of Congress and in 41 votes cast throughout the course of his congressional career. The votes cover both abortion as well as bioethics issues like embryonic stem cell research.

Last month, in a Politico interview, McCotter said he saw little excitement from Republicans about the current field — though that has changed with the entry of pro-life Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and the potential entry of pro-life Texas Gov. Rick Perry. The Congressman told the web site at the time that his campaign would focus on the ”
challenge of globalization, the war for freedom against terrorists, the rise of Communist China and whether moral relativism erodes a nation built on self-evident truth.”

The congressman is a rock and roll fanatic and is a graduate of Detroit’s Catholic Central High School and he went on to receive his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Detroit. At just 27, he was elected to the Wayne County Commission in 1992 and he eventually joined the state Senate in 1998.

“Our liberty is from God not the government; our sovereignty rests in our souls not the soil; our security is through strength not surrender; our prosperity is from the private sector not the public sector; and our truths are self-evident, not relative,’ he has said, according to the American Spectator.

McCotter is expected to give the keynote speech at 8 p.m. Saturday at Freedom Fest at Whitmore Lake.