One Red Stater Proud to be Associated with the Blue

Responding to a Birmingham News story on his longer than long-shot Preisdential run…

They're all Republicans who want to be president: Rudy Giuliani of New York, Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, John McCain of Arizona, Fred Thompson of Tennessee, Hugh Cort of Mountain Brook, Mike Huckabee of - Whoa! Hugh Cort of Mountain Brook? Alabama?…All those other guys have millions of dollars in campaign loot. Most have decades in public office or long track records in big business and they regularly show up on programs like "Meet the Press." All have squared off in nationally televised debates. All would be classified as serious contenders at this stage for the GOP nomination.

Cort has none of those things. He's basically running his campaign out of his own pocket. He hasn't been invited to participate in any of the debates. While he has campaigned in some key states such as Iowa and he has taken part in some straw polls, he shows up nowhere on Alabama's political radar, let alone that of the nation.

The "straw polls" I have been in include:

The Texas Straw Poll, where I spoke and was on the ballot with the top 12 Republican candidates. I got a standing ovation from many of the 2,500 Texans there.

The first statewide South Carolina Straw Poll in Columbia Sept. 20, where I spoke and was on the ballot with the top candidates.

And the first Straw Poll in Rhode Island in May, which I won.