James C. Mitchell Jr.
Candidate for the Office of President of the United States
By Bill O'Connor
Party: Republican
Website: www.mitchell4president08.com/
Running for the people
James C. Mitchell of Lindenhurst, Ill. says he is running for the Office of President of the United States to be a representative of the increasingly disenfranchised middle class.
Mr. Mitchell says he believes that the current political arena has turned into a circus, one that's "being manipulated by people with a lot of money," and that the whole debacle is at odds with our constitution.
"I think I have a message to bring, and it’s from people who don’t have a whole lot of money, who come from families where both spouses are working to help make ends meet," Mitchell says.
James Mitchell's message is one of traditional American family values. As the father of four grown children, Mitchell says he wants to reform current policies so that future generations aren't left dealing with problems created by the current generation of baby boomers that is in power.
"I don’t think that this young generation should have a lifetime of debt at the federal level," Mitchell says. "If debt is bad at the local level, if debt is bad for the individual, why is it really permissible at the federal level? To me it’s stupid politics, it’s greed, it’s bad management, it’s catering to special interests and it’s giving away the future."
Mr. Mitchell, who embarked on his campaign on Feb. 9, 2007 when he announced his candidacy in front of a history class at Zion-Benton Township High School in Illinois, has had over 25 years experience in local politics. He has served on committees and boards ranging from the Highland Park Mosquito Abatement District Board to the Lake County (Illinois) Regional Board Of Education.
Mr. Mitchell also served in the U.S. Navy for seven years during his mid-twentys and was honorably discharged in 1974.
He also has a long list of community involvement and volunteering on his resume, one that includes time spent as a Boy Scouts adult leader as well as a Youth Hockey and Youth Soccer coach.
In fact, according to his campaign Web site, one of the top 11 things Mitchell supports is, "The Boy Scouts of America and their traditional values contained in the Scout Oath and Law."
Mitchell holds a Bachelor of Arts from Northern Illinois University in Chicago and Water and Waste-Water Certificates from the College of Lakes County in Grayslake Illinois. He currently works as an engineer at the water treatment plant in Highland Park, Ill.
As part of his platform Mr. Mitchell supports such things as Social Security reform, a balanced federal budget with no new taxes and improved care and handling of United States veterans.
"We need to do a much better job taking care of our veterans," Mitchell says.
"When homeless veterans die on the street and we have prisoners in jail who have three square meals a day and have all the healthcare, all the counseling and everything else they need, and we’ve got veterans living on the streets not getting the assistance they need, then I think there’s something wrong with way our system is put together," he says.
Mr. Mitchell says he would also like to somehow reform the Social Security system so that those currently collecting could continue to do so, but those not collecting could get their money out of the system and have it transferred to a private retirement fund or account, thus making it so that Americans would be responsible for ensuring their own retirement going forward.
He hints that this plan would take some more development and discussion, but there are also a few other issues concerning retirement that Mitchell says he would resolve immediately if elected.
"One of the things I think is wrong with America is that people who hold federal elected office, whether it’s the president or a congressman, they shouldn’t have a retirement package different than you or I would have with social security," he says. "It’s kind of like robbing the church."
Mr. Mitchell says that congressman can vote themselves any type of retirement package they desire, even though the Social Security system is in shambles, and that we can rest assured that these congressmen and presidents are going to be collecting on their retirement packages long before your average Joe will be.
"It’s morally wrong, fiscally it’s wrong, and I think it’s just plain bad policy," he says.
The cornerstone of Mr. Mitchell's platform, however, is the Ten Commandments and a strong military.
Mr. Mitchell says that the Ten Commandments can be separated into two parts, the first half dealing with God and the second dealing more with social responsibility. Each part, he says, holds universal truths that can help establish rules by which a society should adhere, even if they aren't denominationally Christian in Faith.
Mr. Mitchell also says that a strong military is necessary in order to protect our country. He says that he would always support a peaceful solution to any problem before resorting to using military power, but it is still important to have that strong military to keep us safe if needed.
Currently Mr. Mitchell is financing his own campaign and doing much of the legwork himself. He admits that this puts him at a slight disadvantage over the other candidates, but still seems optimistic about his chances.
Mitchell has a very traditional view of what politics should be, and says he would like to be someone who can help shift back politics to a time where it was more about doing work for the people than the "circus" it has become today.
"When you consider our founding fathers, they came to Washington, did their job and went back home to their lives," he says. "They weren’t looking for long-term health care, they weren’t looking for a retirement package, they came to do honest labor on behalf of the citizens of the United States and then go home and back to what their life was."
And James C. Mitchell is campaigning for that chance, to go do honest labor on behalf of the citizens of the United States.
Additional Links
James C. Mitchell Jr.'s open letter to Barack Obama
Mitchell mentioned in Chicago Tribune article about GOP primary