A Clear-Headed Heartland Conservative

An Interview with Congressional Candidate Craig McPherson CMC '06

By: Charles Johnson

Posted: 3/4/10

Craig McPherson is running for election in Kansas's third congressional district with a generous help from the education he picked up at Claremont McKenna and at the Henry Salvatori Center, where he was a research assistant. Combining a deep interest in America's Founding Fathers, a PPE major here at CMC, and a law and economics education from George Mason, can the 26-year-old from Kansas win the nomination in a crowded primary field?

In 2006, McPherson served as campaign manager for Republican hopeful Chuck Ahner in the same Kansas district. Ahner was trounced by incumbent Dennis Moore by the widest margin of Moore's 10-year political career. But 2010 is not 2006. McPherson is running for the seat his old boss lost in what is shaping up to be a national referendum on the big government schemes of the Obama administration and its Democratic allies in Congress. The race to replace Democratic incumbent Dennis Moore is heating up. At last count, eight Republicans have emerged, with McPherson announcing in late January.

Charles Johnson: You were a PPE student at Claremont. Do you feel as if that prepared you for a congressional run?

Craig McPherson: PPE is really excellent for delving very thoroughly into subject matters with tutorials with professors. There's that interdisciplinary connection. A lot of what our current congressman lacks is an understanding of what leads to economic growth. They might be strong on some issues, but they don't really have any core philosophy. A lot of them don't understand economics and what they can do becomes limited when they get into office. Without core principles, it is easy for them to become corrupted by the ways of Washington. In addition to that, there's also the CMC curriculum, particularly the study of the founding of our nation, which I got through my government major and in taking classes within the government department. That core philosophy of how the country was founded, the ideals that were a part of it, will help give me a background that will keep me rooted as a congressman.

CJ: You and I share something in common - we were both Junior Fellows of the Salvatori Center. Who did you work with at Salvatori and what would you say about that experience?

CM: At the time, there were three professors affiliated with Salvatori - Professors Kesler, Bessette, and Rossum, and I worked with all three of them. We worked on a lot of different stuff, but one that stands out right near the beginning was a project of applying the Federalist papers to Iraq and the efforts to form a new government there. We dealt with the questions of whether or not the American principles of self-governance and democracy could be translated into a developing world where the United States, with its allies, was trying to establish a republic. The Salvatori center stands out as a place where they apply the principles of the American founding to a more practical reality. We often don't look back to what the American founding was all about - liberty and individual rights. Salvatori does excellent work integrating the modern political world with our history.

CJ: George Mason Law School is known for its free-market, libertarian approach to issues of the law. How does that inform the kind of work you would be doing were you to be elected to Congress?

CM: That's one of the things that attracted me to George Mason. Some of the big questions that seldom gets asked are is a law efficient? What are the incentives created? Ultimately how the actors will react to the legislation. That's something that's missing at most of our law schools. They feel as if they are entitled to special treatment from the law. Different sides all have legitimate purposes. George Mason really looks into those kinds of questions. Law and economics will definitely influence my actions when I'm elected to Congress. It will help me think about the trade-offs that occur with every piece of legislation and not to get carried away by the emotion, as we craft law that is both equitable and efficient.

CJ: What did you do while working for the White House and the Department of Justice?

CM: In 2004 election cycle, I worked at the White House under Associate White House Political Director Paul Dyck. I worked on eight Southern states - from Florida to Texas. I wrote policy briefs, updates on the political environment in each of those states trying to look at what the important questions were and what the constituents there were concerned about. Those briefs would ultimately go through the chain and then to either cabinet level secretaries or the vice president or president so that they knew what was happening on the ground and what the people in those areas cared about. In the Department of Justice, I worked in the Office of Legal Policy. In legal policy, I worked with people who were affiliated with each of the DOJ subdivisions. Another important part of my work there was to look into the background and issues surrounding potential judicial nominees and United States attorneys.

CJ: If elected, you will be one of the youngest congressmen in history. What makes you qualified to be a U.S. congressman? What do you say to critics who contend that you are too young to be a congressman?

CM: I think a lot of what the people of the Third District want to know is what I offer and what I bring to the table. There are some 25-year-olds who should not be congressmen, and there are 35-year-olds and 50-year-olds who should also not be congressmen. I, however, have had a set of experiences that would be an asset to the people of Kansas. For instance, I grew up in an entrepreneurial household where we were all wrapped up in that family business. Our dinner table conversations dealt with what they were dealing with in their business and it gave me an appreciation for how the government can affect small business, how certain regulations can be overly burdensome, and how it affected the basic struggles that my parents had. That definitely informs my philosophy. It is part of the reason I went to law school, to help understand just how important the law has become in an overly litigious society. I would ask voters to look not so much at my age, but at those experiences in the private sector, as well as my study of the American founding that will make me a good advocate for the people of Kansas.

The name of my parents' firm was Aviation Systems Maintenance Incorporated. The firm is no longer in existence, as it was sold, but it installed and maintained instrument landing systems at airports. Basically, the landing systems tell the planes how to land and the exact place and angle at which to land. On the job, I became factory certified on Automated Weather Observation Systems, which help the pilot know when the winds are gusting or what the visibility is like. I also did construction. I went out with teams and we installed these Automated Weather Observation Systems. I operated heavy equipment, did masonry, some electrical work, really a little bit of everything. I did all that in addition to the business side of the company.

CJ: The field is pretty crowded in your district. Why should voters look to you instead of another candidate?

CM: I think one thing we are definitely going to see, regardless of what happens with the GOP - whether or not we recapture the House, is that a lot of the country is going to be turning to the Republicans to produce alternatives to the "big government is always the answer" policies of the Obama White House. It is important for Republicans to craft those alternatives so that they can become a strong party with strong ideas. The Republicans had control of both branches and the public lost their trust. The Republicans became Big Government Republicans and helped bring about the meteoric rise of Obama and the recapture of Congress. Republicans had not done a good job and the American public lost their trust in the Republican Party.

It is time to bring the GOP back to their fiscal roots, and remind them that they are the party of limited government. Looking at the primary field, voters have to analyze what they get. They have to analyze what they can get by nominating each of the contestants. There are several individuals that have been career politicians and have little to show for it. My background is in small business, in law and economics, and in the American founding and its principles. When I am a congressman, I plan to be a leader of that new ideal. That the Republican Party is not wrapped up in normal politics and moves the party forward for the kind of progress we need to see. We need a leader to know what it's like to be outside of the political system.

CJ: You wrote your senior thesis on President Bush's response to 9-11 and American exceptionalism with Professor Elizabeth Spalding. Do you agree with President Obama's handling of national security issues since inauguration? What would you do differently?

CM: The current president is far too apologetic. America needs a strong sense of self and a strong vision for its place in the world. Obviously I support the president as the leader of our nation. As a congressman, I will help shape a stronger foreign policy by emphasizing the importance of national defense and by investing in new technologies and U.S. policies that strengthen ourselves and our allies. America really always has been a shining city on the hill. We are an example for the world to follow, with our emphasis on individual rights and liberty. Free market principles and the American ideal can be translated throughout the world, not necessarily through force, but through the force of their example. The president should understand those principles, not run away from them. He should look to those principles as a means of helping bring about prosperity and progress.

CJ: Anything else I should know?

CM: That's about it. Look into the race. I welcome the support of all fellow CMCers.

Charles Johnson CMC '11 is editor emeritus of the Claremont Independent. His blog, the Claremont Conservative, can be found at www.claremontconservative.com, where a version of this interview first appeared.