For starters, says O’Connell, “Nobody knows who he is.”
Indeed, McCotter is the GOP’s dark horse, entering the race at a significant disadvantage with little name recognition, fundraising ability, and experience.
Perhaps most damning to his campaign, McCotter once voted for the Employee Free Choice Act, a pro-union bill that would have made it easier for employees to form and join unions to bargain with employers. It’s seen as anti-business, a move he’ll be hard-pressed to defend in the race.
And as a member of the House of Representatives without the national profile of a Michele Bachmann or a Ron Paul, the odds are against McCotter.
“It’s very hard to run for president as a member of the House,” says Holmes. “You only have 1/435th of the country as a constituency,” he says.
Indeed, a sitting House member has not won the presidency since James Garfield in 1880.
Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report said McCotter's chances of winning the nomination are “virtually impossible.”
O’Connell calls him “the longest of long shots.”
But, says Holmes, McCotter’s penchant for raising challenging matters may serve to stir debate and test his contenders. “I think he brings a willingness to raise some difficult issues and possibly show us how the candidates would respond,” he says. “If he helps bring out the real candidates, that to me is a real service.”
