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Michael Smith, an OSU alumnus and presidential candidate, is hoping to receive enough votes to persuade delegates to send him to the Republican National Convention, where he can voice his opinion.

OSU alum looks to explore his presidential possibilities

Michael Smith is proactive about is dissatisfaction with the Republican party

By: Rachel Crews

Posted: 2/15/07

A podcast of the interview may be found at http://barometer.orst.edu/podcasts/features/.

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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.

"The chances of Michael Smith getting even a single vote in the Republican primary are as good as Abe Lincoln's," Lunch said.

Lunch referenced the Presidential campaign of 1960 to explain this criticism.

"JFK was criticized for being in national politics for only 14 years. Not to say Michael Smith isn't a decent guy, nor that he doesn't have interesting political ideas, he just doesn't have the background," Lunch said.

Smith realizes he doesn't have the campaign visibility to win the presidency. What he's really hoping for is a chance to voice the growing discontent for the way his party is operating.

Smith is looking to others discouraged by how the party is running to gain support for his fresh ideas.

"I want to encourage people to think, to get involved. The younger demographic needs to start voting. There is so much at stake," Smith said.

"I've known Mike Smith for a number of years. When he asked me to be his campaign manager I was eager to. He reasons through things very well," said Ann Messersmith, professor emeritus in nutrition and exercise sciences.

Though not taken seriously in some sectors, Smith knows he has a valid message and hopes to have a platform to explain it.