Bladen Co. man on N.H. Democratic presidential ballot
By Jimmy Ryals
The Daily Reflector
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Thirteen times Bladen County businessman Randy Crow has run for office.
Thirteen times he's lost.
That number will likely rise by one today, as Crow makes his third
appearance on the Democratic ballot in the New Hampshire presidentia
primary.
Reached by cell phone Monday in Manchester, N.H., Crow said his 2008 bid
may end today, but his quixotic political career will continue.
"After I determine that I'm out of this, which might be Wednesday, I'll
probably change my Web site to read, 'Democrat for president ...
2-0-1-2," said Crow, the lone eastern North Carolinian running for
president this year. "That's what I did in 2-0-0-4."
With his fellow Tar Heel presidential hopeful, John Edwards, Crow shares
a party, a home state and disdain for President George W. Bush's civil
liberties record, but little else. His opposition to the war in Iraq and
to the treatment of U.S. citizens targeted as terror suspects don't
stray from mainstream Democratic opinion.
"We're losing our civil liberties right and left," Crow said. "I just
kind of feel like (running is) something I feel uncomfortable not doing
while we have this concerted effort to take what I consider our
constitutional rights away from us."
Crow shares some positions with hard-right conservatives. He advocates
abolishing the income tax and Social Security.
Other Crow positions are not so mainstream.
On his campaign Web site, he argues for abolishing the Federal Reserve
Bank. He believes the Bush administration had a role in the Sept. 11
attacks and sniper shootings in the Washington, D.C., area in 2002.
"I don't go along with the 9-11 Commission's view of September 11th," he
said. "And that was kind of the reason that we are in Iraq. So, if you
don't go along with how we got there, then there's, in my opinion, no
real reason to be there."
Crow said he tried to get onto the Florida and South Carolina
presidential primary ballots but made neither. He's run in Texas and
Louisiana primaries in the past.
In 2004, Crow drew 60 votes in New Hampshire, up from 29 in 2000.
He'd like to continue the upward trend this year but admits considering
the numbers "puts me in a bad mood," he said.
Still, his campaign continues.
"I don't look at it as a single event," he said. "I would say that it is
just a step as far as my message that we are not doing what we should be
doing in this country."
Jimmy Ryals can be contacted at jryals@coxnc.com and 329-9568.
posted by Esse Quam @ 4:08 PM
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