Thaddeus McCotter ends GOP bid, citing "death by media"; backs Romney

  
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan, a candidate for in the GOP presidential race since July, withdrew his name from the running Thursday, hours before the latest Republican debate, to which he was again not invited.

He released the following statement:

Today, September 22, 2011, U.S. Representative Thaddeus G. McCotter (MI) has issued the following statement:

“Today, effective immediately, I have withdrawn my candidacy to become the Republican Party’s nominee for the Office of President of the United States of America.

“I have decided to seek re-election to continue to serve as your United States Representative for Michigan’s new 11th Congressional District; and, I am committed to promoting and implementing a platform of principled conservatism.

“Truly, Michigan and America’s best days are ahead of us because of you. Together we will transcend our challenges; revitalize our economy; defend our freedom; and bequeath our exceptional nation to our children.”

McCotter has been unable to reach the polling levels required by the various news organizations to participate in any of the GOP debates since he announced his candidacy. For the Thursday Fox News/Google debate, it was at least 1% of support in five national polls.

Former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson, who had not been in a debate since the first one in May in South Carolina, cleared the hurdle and will be on the stage in Orlando for tonight's debate.

In an interview with the Detroit News, McCotter said, "If they keep you out of the debates, you are out of the conversation, and you can't run. It was sort of death by media."

In the same piece, McCotter said he would throw his support behind his home state's former govenor, Mitt Romney, saying, "Especially with his business background and in a stagnant economy, he may be the most electable."

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Who is Thaddeus McCotter and why care?

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Prepping for tonight's GOP debate with Megyn Kelly of Fox News

-- Kate O'Hare

Media critic Kate O’Hare is a regular Ticket contributor. She also blogs about TV at Hot Cuppa TV and is a frequent contributor at entertainment news site Zap2it. Also follow O'Hare on Twitter @KateOH.

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Photo: Rep. Thaddeus McCotter at the Sept. 18 Beverly Hills Tea Party rally . Credit: Kate O'Hare for the Los Angeles Times

Who is Thaddeus McCotter and why care?

  

If there are themes to the Republican presidential candidacy of Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter -- other than hardly anybody knows he's running, or if they do know, they're not really sure who he is -- they're the role of the government (or lack thereof) in revitalizing the economy, the revolution in communications technology, dealing with China and the rights of sovereign citizens.

Oh, and he's introduced legislation to fix Social Security. More on that in a bit.

McCotter, who announced over the July 4th weekend, is a cerebral Roman Catholic father of three who plays rock guitar in a bipartisan band called the Second Amendments.

He's been a regular guest on Fox News' latenight pop-culture/politics roundtable show "RedEye W/GregGutfeld" (fans of which probably constitute his largest group of constituents outside of his actual group of constituents).

He opposes bank bailouts and excessive government spending but has a soft spot for organized labor and the auto bailout (McCotter's 11th District does lie hard by the Motor City, and the Livonia, Mich., native attended the University of Detroit).

The Ticket attended his speeches at both the Lincoln Club's breakfast during the....

Ron Paul wins California Republican straw poll

  

This weekend, the California Republican Party had its 2011 Fall Convention at the JW Marriott Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. One presidential candidate, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, spoke at a dinner on Friday night, and Saturday morning's breakfast featured two more contenders: Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter and Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

Paul's fans were out in force both outside the hotel -- awaiting his arrival -- and inside the ticketed Lincoln Clubs Breakfast. He spoke last and was late, allowing McCotter to add a question-and-answer period to his prepared remarks (more on that later, check back).

McCotter is also on the roster of speakers for Sunday's Beverly Hills Tea Party, to be held from 2:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at Beverly Hills Park on Santa Monica Blvd.

Raucous cheers and whistles and whoops and screams -- one could be forgiven for wondering....

White House claims Obama’s bus tour is presidential, so taxpayers will fund it

Somehow, from somewhere, a bright political strategist on the president's reelection team has come up with the idea of sending Obama out in a bus on Midwestern roads in two weeks, just like real Americans, or real Americans who can still afford a short summer road trip.

The spectacle of a passing politician's bus and waving citizens provides grand visuals for TV during the usually slow summer news days. The president of the United States might even happen upon a curbside lemonade stand operated by surprised children who deserve the kind of future he has in mind for all Americans. And more of that.

Not so good visuals of the trailing motorcade of press buses, Secret Service SUVs, SWAT team vans and communications cars. Nor the angry motorists stalled nearby because the highway and every on- and off-ramp has been closed by uniformed motorcyclists wearing large guns.

But a presidential bus tour could help refresh the image of this poll-plagued Democrat a year before his renomination for POTUS.

For weeks now Obama's only been seen at a pompous lectern lecturing members of Congress about the need to raise the national debt limit so he can make new "investments" in America's future and avoid default.

Or he's been seen reminiscing about the good old disastrous days of 2008 with Windy City poobahs who dropped $35,800 each to say they had dinner with the president.

Or Obama could not be seen in closed-door meetings with union leaders, who really liked the $787 billion stimulus plan but don't like any of this spending cut talk. As one result, Obama's job approval has never been lower.

So, on Aug. 15-17 he'll set out from somewhere and go somewhere else in a bus. You wouldn't announce your itinerary until the last minute either if you had Republicans itching to buy critical billboards along the route. And compute how few miles per gallon your big bus gets.

Political road tours do have other dangers. Remember Democrat John Edwards' bus breaking down on an icy Iowa roadside in early 2008, providing an irresistible media metaphor for his campaign on life-support?

So, where's the commander-in-chief going? Politically, Ohio, Indiana and Michigan make strong sense, although a dash into Iowa could help rain on campaigning Republicans' media parade. Yes, they're all run by Republicans now after last November's Democratic debacle. But Obama's got to retake at least two of them if he hopes to keep putting his feet up on that Oval Office desk.

However, according to Obama Press Secretary Jay Carney, the 72-hour bus trip is not political. (Laughter) No, really. Carney told doubting reporters this week, "The air of cynicism is quite thick. The idea that the president of the United States should not venture forth into the country is ridiculous."

Carney was fed such lines during his reporting days. But he persevered with the president's pitch: "It is absolutely important for the president, whoever that person is, in the past and in the future, to get out and hear from the people in different communities." Scroll down to watch Carney attempt to make that case on video.

The main trip topics will be the economy and jobs, he said. And no one would suspect the topics have anything to do with more discouraging employment figures expected out this morning.

Anyway, because the bus trip is so clearly presidential, America's taxpayers will be footing the bill for the non-political, three-day Obama odyssey through politically important Midwestern battleground states.

After all, taxpayers covered all the costs of Sarah Palin's successful One Nation bus tour back in June. Oh, wait. No, they didn't. Her political action committee paid for that.

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-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photos: (top) Sarah Palin. Credit: Steven Senne / Associated Press

(middle) President Obama makes an appearnace on Tuesday. Credit: Andrew Harrer / Bloomberg

Rep. Thaddeus McCotter joins the GOP race on July 4th weekend -- patriotic, yes, media-savvy, maybe not

Michigan Rep. Thaddeus McCotter announced his candidacy for the GOP presidential nomination today.

Who knew?

It may have been carried on local media, but CSPAN was running coverage of the progressive Netroots Nation conference, which took place in mid-June; CSPAN2 was in the middle of a tribute to historian Manning Marable; Fox News Channel had "Huckabee"; CNN had "Nepal's Stolen Children," with Demi Moore; and MSNBC had its prison documentary series "Lockup."

However, you can now scroll down for a video of McCotter's understated announcement.

Perhaps announcing a presidential candidacy at a music festival in a park in Whitmore Lake, Mich., on a holiday weekend was not the best timing to garner national media coverage for the 45-year-old father of three..

The event was neither live-streamed on McCotter's Facebook page nor his official campaign website, and fans were casting about unsuccessfully Saturday evening on Twitter for.... 

DNC chairwoman supports U.S. auto industry so much she owns a Japanese car

Oh, how embarrassing.

Like roll-up-the-tinted-windows-and-slouch-down-in-your-seat embarrassing.

The new chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee was criticizing Republicans who opposed President Obama's bailout of the American automakers union, oh, no, make that American automakers.

"If it were up to the candidates for president on the Republican side," said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, "we would be driving foreign cars. They would have let the auto industry in America go down the tubes."

So Michael O'Brien of The Hill newspaper went and checked what kind of automobile loyal-American-car-supporter Debbie Wasserman Schultz owns.

Yup, you guessed it -- Japanese.

Drive as she says, not as she does.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Nissan.com (a 2010 Infiniti FX35 similar to Debbie Wasserman Schultz's Japanese car).

Joe Biden update: He draws Italy duty in June

The peripatetic President Obama is off to El Paso, Texas, today for another speech calling on someone to do something about the nation's broken immigration system. He'll also squeeze in a pair of Democratic Party fundraisers in Austin.

Joe Biden will stay behind to put in another day of useless bipartisan negotiations on comprehensive deficit reduction, which polls indicate will be a hot debate topic in next year's campaigns.

Speaking of growing the nation's deficits, the Obama team has plans to spend $53 billion on high-speed rail infrastructure in the next 72 months, assuming they're around that long -- and they can railroad the Republican House to go along on that fiscal ride.

Biden was in on the big announcement Monday about spending  $2 billion of that fortune on high-speed trains that a few people want in parts of the country.

You'll remember newly-installed Florida Gov. Rick Scott turned down that $2 billion federal train money, citing likely cost overruns and long-term operating expenses on a proposed 84-mile rail link between Tampa and Orlando.

But the Obama administration's Department of Transportation was determined to spend that money on union jobs one way or another.

So it found 22 projects in 15 other states to throw the money at. A large bundle went to the Northeast, of course, where JB used to commute by train from Delaware to the U.S. Capitol, while he was waiting for Obama to grow up.

California's Gov. Jerry Brown, who was just getting into politics when the first trains reached California, intends to use his money to speed up rail service between San Francisco and Los Angeles because his state's citizens are famous for their love of trains over cars.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will invest his state's money on part of the rail line to Chicago. That way, someday people in Dearborn and Kalamzaoo will  be able to escape those cities at speeds up to 110 miles an hour.

This will be several more busy weeks of travel for both Obama and Biden, although they leave trains for other people to ride. Obama is flying off to Poland, France and Great Britain later this month and also Ireland to track down some very distant relatives for the cameras.

The Bidens, it was announced Monday, have been assigned to visit Italy in early June to join the important 150th anniversary celebration of that country's unification. That should make up for his trip to Finland and Moldova last winter.

The weather should be gorgeous in Italy by then.

 -- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Getty Images (Biden doesn't take the train somewhere); Roberto Gonzalez / Associated Press (another delayed Amtrak train).

Gov. Scott Walker: 'Wisconsin is open for business'

Talk about needing RoboCop to help again.

Back to Deficit City we go with the State of the State address from newly installed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. A former state assemblyman and Milwaukee county executive (Walker's official bio is here), he chose his first day in office to call a special legislative session to deal with an issue Washington has been talking about for more than two years: job creation.

Walker was part of a major Republican political takeover in the Badger State in November, securing the Legislature, the governor's office and knocking out of office the onetime unbeatable Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold.

So determined is the new governor to drive his signature jobs issue that he smartly seized the public relations moment a few weeks back for a little elbow-swinging interstate competition.

When Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn, a Democrat, celebrated legislative passage of a 66% increase in the state income taxes, Walker showed up all over the media with the slogan and phrase "Wisconsin is open for business." If some Illinois businesses flee Democratic taxes by moving next door to Wisconsin, Iowa or Indiana, all run by GOP chief executives, it will not be the first time.

The Midwest may be rusting in many industrial ways, but politically it is a coveted....

Detroit doomed! Can RoboCop save the city again?

Detroit is racked by crime, corruption and a fleeing population. OCP, the company in charge of Motor City, turns to RoboCop, a cyborg created by scientists from the human remains of Alex Murphy, a slain patrolman. "Part man. Part machine. All cop."

SuperCop RoboCop does good things to bad guys by using amazing rapid-flashing weapons. "Come quietly or there will be trouble."

The 1987 MGM cult classic, set in the distant future of 1991 (and actually filmed in Dallas), was so violently uplifting and successful that they made another one three years later when Detroit needed even more help. "Excuse me. I have to go. Somewhere a crime is happening."

But now it's 20 years later and, guess what, Detroit is still in deep porridge.

So, naturally, who would that pathetic place turn to for help?

The new Mayor Dave Bing, formerly of the NBA, replaced the old mayor who had some, well, legal issues. Bing turned to the public for ideas on fixing up the place.

Someone suggested building a statue to the city's previous pretend savior.

Tourists would flock to Motown to see the law enforcement edifice and be in its powerful presence and have their picture taken standing next to a real statue of a fictitious cyborg patrolman who refused to give up. And they might conceivably think better of that urban Michigan place.

Just as, say, the iconic arms-up statue of the cinematic Rocky atop all those steps has caused many to associate Philadelphia with taking countless slow-motion blows to the head and overcoming adversity to not lose.

Well, Mayor Bing read the RoboCop idea.

And he considered the RoboCop idea.

And he killed the RoboCop idea.

BLAM! With the blast of a single Tweet @MayorDaveBing announced: "There are not any plans to erect a statue to RoboCop. Thank you for the suggestion."

What kind of crummy ending is that?

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: MGM (RoboCop 2); Associated Press (Rocky Balboa statue).

Social media wrap: Obama, Boehner and Feingold have money on their minds

Money: It's a gas (if you listen to Pink Floyd), but often it’s also the oxygen of politics. Today, it’s clearly on politicians’ minds (Snoop Dogg).  But does it make the world go round (Liza Minnelli)? 

Inside the Beltway, you can bet your last dime it does. Here is today’s roundup of politicians’ tweets on the green stuff, after a slew of economic news and policy initiatives:

MaryBonoMack (Rep. California): believes that we must not bankrupt our future with reckless and wasteful spending and debt!

DeptofDefense: Secretary Gates wants to instill a culture of saving in the Department. http://go.usa.gov/c4J #sot#militarymon #milblog

johnboehner (House minority leader): Democrats want Congress to vote on a spending bill they forgot to name: http://is.gd/ea53W (via @CNETNews)

BarackObama: A minority in the Senate is blocking a vote on a jobs bill for small businesses, and that's a shame. It's time to move forward.

fredthompson (former presidential candidate): Gibbs: Obama economic team did 6 yrs of work in last 18 mo. Doubt it. In last 18 mo, they did at LEAST 10 yrs worth of spending. #ftrs #tcot

repblumenauer (Rep. Oregon): Republicans Demand Two-Month, Taxpayer-Funded Recess After Election http://huff.to/aJ3qze

edlabordems (House Education and Labor Committee): RT @ED_Outreach 8 mil more students are getting $ for college because of shift of billions of dollars from bankers to students. #hugewin

RepWalterJones (Rep. North Carolina): Why is the Obama Administration spending $10 million to train foreign workers so they can take American IT jobs? http://is.gd/eaapF

DrCassidy (Bill Cassidy, Rep. Louisiana): Oil Spill Commission notes “unanimity of opposition to....