Former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, who is a declared Republican presidential candidate although he has not been included in any debates, has come out in support of Occupy Wall Street. “There’s anger and anxiety in America. We’re in trouble,” he told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Sunday. “There is no leadership in either party that spells out what we must do now and for the next ten years.”
Roemer asserted that the only two genuine issues of the campaign are corruption and jobs. “Washington, DC is corrupt,” he stated flatly, “and we must change it.”
“I would love to live in a world in which you were the leading GOP contender,” Hayes responded. “But it just seems like it’s delusional to pretend that the Republican primary base shares anything with the worldview that you are enunciating.”
Roemer didn’t have an answer to that question but returned to his charge that because of the corruption in Washington, Obama has to care more about getting reelected than about jobs.
“He hasn’t made it a priority. There are no new ideas, here,” he insisted. “Everything is a temporary patch. Everything is a band-aid. Why don’t you stand up to unfair trade to China, Mr. President? Is it because your jobs adviser is head of a company that fires Americans and builds plants overseas? I’d say Made in America ought to be the issue in this campaign.”
“The parties have become fundraising shills for the status quo,” Roemer complained. “I was the only governor to change parties while in office. I got sick of the Democrats. Now I’m in the Republican Party. Can’t even get in a debate to talk about jobs, talk about corruption. … I’m a proud Republican, but I’m a prouder American.”
