Spring Break
OSU alum looks to explore his presidential possibilities
Michael Smith is proactive about is dissatisfaction with the Republican party
Rachel Crews
Issue date: 2/15/07 Section: News
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Michael Smith has added his name to the list of candidates running for the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election.
Before Smith graduated in 1999 from OSU as an accounting major, he was trained as a Russian linguist for the U.S. Air Force. This was his first experience with the U.S. government.
A few years after his military service he took the position of village trustee in a the town of Garret, Ill. - population: 200.
Smith moved back to Corvallis in 1996 to work for Hewlett Packard. He is a technician in a wafer manufacturing fabrication plant.
The decision to run came out of Smith's dissatisfaction with the choices the Republican Party has been making.
"I looked around at what's going on in the Republican party," Smith said. "My wife wanted to switch her registration and I said, 'Wait a minute - that's not necessarily what the Republican Party ought to stand for.'"
"Republicans have begun to march toward the right. Most of the candidates, including those in Oregon, that get nominated are conservative," said William Lunch, head of the political science department at OSU.
Smith's critical assessment of the party he has always identified with prodded him to see what he could do to help readjust its thinking.
"The process for getting on the ballot here in Oregon is relatively simple. I figure if I can get enough votes to draw a delegate or two I can go to the National Convention and have tangible proof that, 'Hey, some of us out here want to hear something different,'" Smith said.
Smith conceded that he is attracted to the Libertarian perspective of how to run government, but acknowledges that the U.S. is mainly a two-party system and would rather reform one of those two parties than try and create a third party.
Despite the fact that many are now dissatisfied with the current direction of the Republican party, Smith's front-porch campaign is hardly likely to gain much notice.
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
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Michael Smith
posted 2/15/07 @ 9:42 AM PST
Dang, I guess I can't count on Bill Lunch's vote. Just to clarify - I started at HP as a technician but finished my accounting degree and an MBA. I've spent the last several years in marketing and supply chain, forecsting market demand and coordinating manufacturing resources in Ireland, Singapore, and Malaysia. (Continued…)
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