Q&A: Presidential Candidate Buddy Roemer

Standing only 5 feet 7 inches, Buddy Roemer can get lost in a crowd. Waiting alone at the back of a Tea Party Express crowd this past Friday evening in Columbia before his scheduled turn to speak, the candidate had no handlers around him, no peppy aides preparing him for his stump speech.

Nope. Just a lone man, hoping to make some headway in his long-shot bid to become president.

Roemer, 67, has been out of the political spotlight for years. Once a Louisiana Congressman, Roemer made history in the 1980s as leader of the Boll Weevils, a group of conservative Democrats that routinely crossed party lines to support President Ronald Reagan. And in his single term as governor of Louisiana, Roemer earned a reputation as a feisty reformer who fought against crime, corruption, government waste, poor education, taxes, and industrial pollution.

Most recently, Roemer has been out of politics, most notably heading a bank that he proudly asserts is profitable, growing, and which has never taken a dime of federal bailout money.

Though he wasn't invited to the CNN/Tea Party Express debate in Tampa Monday night, he has represented himself at several Tea Party Express stops, including a stop Friday evening in Columbia, where he spoke to about 100 people.

The debate snub is mostly due to the fact that Roemer, who became a Republican in 1991, only announced his GOP candidacy on July 21 and has yet to rate high enough in polls to merit an invitation. And that may be too bad for the debate audience — because anyone who has seen him on the stump, including the Tea Party crowd in Columbia, can tell you that Roemer is a ball of fire and passion. 

Small in stature though he is, he stands tall on stage, speaking with an evangelical, Southern-style, populist fire that's a throwback to another era.

Here is a Q&A Roemer gave Lexington Patch during his Columbia visit, and some of that fire is clearly on display. (To access his campaign site, click here. For more on his life and career, click here).

Lexington Patch: How is your campaign going?

Roemer: Good. I spend most of my time in New Hampshire. That's where I've cast my lot. I've been up there seven weeks.

What are you hoping to accomplish in this race?

To win! 

You got into the race late, aren't accepting big-donor money, and have yet to be invited to a debate or make a dent in the polls -- you think you can win?

Absolutely.

What are you focusing on in this race?

The money in politics. I think it's corrupt and keeps us from doing what needs to be done. And unfair trade. The big companies who profit from unfair trade have bought the politicians. 

I'll tell you the facts. Four years ago the biggest contributor to the Republican candidate for president was General Electric. Does that ring a bell with you? They sent 50,000 jobs out of the country this year alone. They paid no taxes on $14 billion. It's a disgrace. And it's time somebody stands up to them. You can't take their money and stand up to them.

I choose to accept $100 maximum from any person. No PAC money. No super-PAC money. 

No corporations?

None.

Legally, corporations are now "persons"?

No they're not! The Supreme Court ruled that, but they're not. That's a joke. Politics is bought and sold. You know it.

You used to be a Democrat. What has happened in the intervening years that has brought you to this point?

I changed parties 20 years ago. Born a Democrat in the South in the '40s, and the more I got to know about it, the less I liked it. Eight years in Congress I led a group called the Boll Weevils — Carroll Campbell was my right hand, he was a good S.C. guy — we gave Ronald Reagan a majority in the House. That is what I did as a conservative Democrat. 

I've always been a conservative. There used to be a conservative wing to the Democratic party, but that's changed over time. So [in 1991] I quit them.

Let me remind you that was 20 years ago. People ask me that like it happened yesterday. C'mon! (he laughs).

What is on your mind as you watch your fellow GOP candidates?

Money. Follow the money. You want to know who a man works for? See who he gets a check from. Look at these Republican candidates. See who they get checks from. Big corporations, super PACs, special interests, and lobbyists. Nothing is going to change.

Another major plank of your campaign is jobs. What did you think about President Obama's jobs speech before Congress the other night?

It was pitiful. Man, it was absolutely pitiful. I actually felt sorry for him. He has no passion about jobs. He doesn't understand how to grow them.

I'll give you an example. He has a patent office that collects more fees than it spends. They have 1.3 million applicants waiting in line waiting for patent approval. He could spend the money on that, he wouldn't break the budget, he's already got it, and he could create five million jobs in two years. The average patent creates four to five new jobs. Here's 1.3 million waiting on the damn bureaucrats.

This government is a joke. Barack Obama has no clue on how to grow jobs.

I tell you what he ought to do as president. He ought to stand up to the Chinese and say, "No more unfair trade. It stops here." And if they say "trade war?" — well bring it on. We need to defend American jobs. And I'm counting on the president to do it.

I look at this [Republican] field and Mr. Obama, and not a single one of them talks about it. Not a single one. But I'll do it.