The Occupy Wall Street candidate?

Buddy Roemer has been running for president as something of a man without a movement: His single issue has been to curtail the influence of money in politics, but there doesn't seem to be much demand for a populist uprising around campaign finance.

But the former Louisiana governor took an interesting step toward relevance this week by becoming the lone presidential candidate — in either party — to speak up strongly on behalf of the Occupy Wall Street protestors.


Here's what he told American Conservative blogger Rod Dreher today:

“I think conservatives believe in first principles. They believe that hard work should be rewarded. They believe that this country is great because it’s been generally free. And conservatives see that that’s disappearing. They see now that a big check can take the place of a big idea. They see now that the structure is not for the base, but is for the peak. It’s for the top one or two percent. They see Wall Street riddled with fraudulent documents. They see it riddled with the attitude of 'let’s fire Americans and go overseas.' They see it riddled with things that have had and will have bad effects on this economy.” “We have almost permanent unemployment,” he continued. “They say it’s nine percent, but the real unemployment rate is more like 16 percent. These are people there are no jobs for, or they have to work part time to try to make ends meet. It’s disturbing. the Wall Street protest is unshaped, unfocused, but there’s a lot of power in it. We need the courage to go back to conservative principles — that is, the reward of hard work, the sense of fair play, the belief in individual strength rather than government solutions. To me, the Wall Street protests reflect all these sorts of things.”

He's been on MSNBC to deliver the same message. Roemer also went after Herman Cain for disparaging the anti-bank protests, tweeting: "Herman Cain’s views on Occupy Wall Street are un-American. You should apologize Herman."

Roemer's perspective may not be right over the plate for a conservative primary electorate that's more outraged about big government than big business. But at a moment when Americans' distrust of large institutions is at a historic high, there's a conspicuous space in the 2012 conversation for a candidate who takes aim at both Washington and Wall Street.

That's a space that Tim Pawlenty seemed to have the potential to fill, with his periodic criticism of the "triangle of greed: big government, big unions and big bailed out businesses." Sarah Palin also made rhetorical gestures in that direction before bowing out of the 2012 race.

Roemer's endorsement of Occupy Wall Street is a bolder populist move than Pawlenty or Palin — or Barack Obama — ever made. If Roemer had a Ross Perot-sized fortune at his disposal, he might find disaffected voters in both parties who are intrigued by what he has to say.

This article tagged under: Buddy Roemer

2012 Elections