Boston University Professor Laurence Kotlikoff has increased his campaign efforts to rally more support before the Americans Elect online primary.
The economic professor said he aims to receive the necessary 50,000 supporters to be placed on the ballot in November by Americans Elect.
Kotlikoff, who announced his presidency in early January, is running through Americans Elect’s website, which works to garner grassroots support for candidates who are not affiliated with parties.
A candidate must win 50,000 support clicks on the website before April 30 to run in the Americans Elect primaries.
“A couple of weeks ago, I had about 100 [clicks], now I’ve got 600, but I only have about six weeks to go, so I really need to have a big push.”
Kotlikoff received 678 votes by press time, putting him in third place. Former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer stands in first place and former Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson holds second.
“[The campaign] is snowballing,” he said. “The question is whether or not it will snowball fast enough.”
Kotlikoff had considered retired Admiral William Owens to run as his vice president. However, the two concluded on Saturday, Owens, who lives in Hong Kong, would not be able to make time to campaign.
“His ability to spend time on my campaign between the final primary for Americans Elect and through the summer was going to be pretty difficult given his location and time commitments,” Kotlikoff said.
Owens will provide recommendations for other vice presidential candidates who would be available for campaigning, Kotlikoff said. He may still be considered for a cabinet position, however.
“He’s helping me find someone else who is quite knowledgeable on the defense or military side,” he said. “He’s put me in contact with some people in the country that he respects highly to see if we can find a replacement for the VP spot.”
Kotlikoff said he is currently campaigning by holding media events and speaking with veterans and local leaders of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
Kotlikoff said he understands the economy better than most politicians and is most qualified to fix it.
“I’m the first economist to run for president in the history of the country, as far as I know,” he said.
Maya Errazuriz, a College of Arts and Sciences junior, said Kotlikoff would be a good candidate in terms of economic issues, but may lack the political experience required for the presidency.
“In terms of how to solve the economic issues, he’s a good candidate,” she said, “but I don’t know if he knows what it must be like to actually be president.”
Errazuriz said selecting someone with political experience as a vice presidential candidate could strengthen his campaign.
“Someone who is a politician or has had experience in the government would probably be good for his image and for his lack of political experience,” she said.
CAS sophomore William Wallis said the idea of an economist and professor running for president may hold some promise.
”I would definitely not write him off, but given the state of American politics, I’m not sure that he could get very far,” he said.
He also said the fact that Kotlikoff is not a politician could strengthen his image with young voters.
“[It could mean] he doesn’t play political games,” he said.
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Wow! A journalist who actually understands that Americans Elect is not a “party,” and what it actually is. I am truly impressed! Maybe some of your intelligence could rub off on a few of the uneducated lunkheads out there who choose to write about that which they do not comprehend.
Kudos to you.
I have read through much of the information furnished by Laurence Kotlikoff and it looks to me that he has a lot of political experience going back all the way to the Reagan administration. It is experience gained down in the inner workings of government, the places where policy is made. We currently have a lot of elected representatives in Congress who don’t seem to have any real positions on policy matters other than that of the people who helped put them there. This is not the experience I would look for in a candidate.