Buddy Roemer’s long-anticipated candidacy for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination was made official on Thursday when the former Louisiana governor declared his candidacy at the Hanover Inn at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire.
Roemer, 67, became the 12th candidate to officially join the crowded GOP contest.
“We’re a nation where ninety-eight percent of the people don’t give a nickel, don’t give a penny,” but are shocked when they discover that only one or two percent own the system, said Roemer in announcing his candidacy.
“I ask the 98 percent of Americans who never give to a presidential candidate to stand with me,” he said.
Roemer, who has sworn off special interest money and refuses to accept individual contributions in excess of $100 as a matter of principle, served four terms as a Democratic congressman before winning the Louisiana governorship in 1987.
Bound by his own self-imposed limit on campaign contributions, Roemer has raised just $95,660 since forming his exploratory committee in early March. According to his latest FEC report, the former Louisiana governor had $19,058 cash on hand as of June 30.
Roemer recently leased an apartment in Manchester and plans to court Granite State voters on a full-time basis between now and next year’s first-in-the-nation primary, but says he’ll also make brief forays into Iowa and South Carolina.
At least five other Republicans are reportedly still weighing bids for their party’s presidential nomination, including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former New York Gov. George E. Pataki, and John R. Bolton, the former UN ambassador.
Coincidentally, white supremacist David Duke — who infamously knocked Roemer out of the runoff in his bid for a second term as governor of Louisiana in 1991 — is also exploring a bid for the GOP’s presidential nomination.
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