(In a recent dialogue with Campaign Consultant Troy Schoonover the following questions were asked; the responses given were more informal, and a way for the voting public to seek an alternative to business-as-usual Republican politicians who will take your money and then tell you what you want to hear . . .)

June 23, 2011--St. Petersburg, FL (U.S.A.)

-What are you trying to accomplish?

These are excellent questions, Troy.  First, one always “plays to win,” otherwise one does not play at all.  So, yes, if I am deciding to run for the G.O.P. nomination as a conservative, Pro-Life Catholic of Irish-English (and Spanish) descent it’s because I see a need for more voices who are 100% Pro-Life such as Marco Rubio, and if the population of the United States of America so decides then I will happily serve as the next Republican U.S. President.  Second, as I shared with a colleague from Shorecrest Prep who worked on both George W. campaigns, sometimes like Charlie Crist someone can “win” an election, but “lose all credibility, integrity, etc.” in the process OR sometimes, for example, Mike Prendergast who ran for U.S. Congress (unsuccessfully) one can boldly stand for truth, and end up serving in a different capacity, which in Mike’s case, ended up being Chief of Staff to Florida Governor Rick Scott.  I would rather “win” according to moral principles while losing an actual election (Prendergast) than “lose” one’s integrity while supposedly winning an election (Crist).  Either way, as someone who has served Church, Academy and from a military family (my father was a 20 year vet), I hold academic, church and personal character traits to effectively lead.

-What do you think you actually will accomplish?

At the bare minimum, I wish to highlight the need for a greater support for elite concerns, for example, private funding for the Arts, equal access to higher educational attainment, a growing skepticism concerning President Barack Obama’s loyalty to U.S. citizens of Jewish or Christian religious affiliation, and all moral concerns in keeping with my conservative Roman Catholic faith.  I am 100% Pro-Life.  I support only heterosexual marriage.  I am deeply concerned about national security lapses.  However, in supporting each of these causes, I also do not wish to perpetuate “legalism” that would specifically target gays, Muslims, and other people who might not share my Roman Catholic viewpoints.  In combating Shariah Islamic attacks on the U.S. I do not wish to promote any sort of “reverse-Shariah.”  In fact, while living in S. Bend, Indiana, two close neighborhood family friends were Muslims from Bosnia.  I would play basketball regularly with one young father, and we were able to share concern for neighborhood cleanliness, support for traditional marriage, and most of all, trying to play basketball like our shared N.B.A. hero, Kobe Bryant.

-Is this the right vehicle for what you are trying to accomplish?

Ideally, I wish to serve since public service has always run in my family.  For example, my father, Robert L. King served in both Korea and Vietnam aboard a U.S. Coast Guard ship, my uncle Floyd King served in Germany at the end of World War II, and going much further back on my grandma King’s side, since her maiden name was Walton, her great, great, great uncle, George Walton, served as two-time Governor and one-time U.S. Senator of Georgia, in addition to being a signer of the Declaration of Independence.  Additionally, my lifelong friend, Kim Adams, my old high school sweetheart at Shorecrest Prep in St. Petersburg, Florida, comes from an even more distinguished lineage, namely direct great, great, great, great granddaughter of John Q. Adams and John Adams.  She’s as conservative as I am, and since we re-connected in 2008 (through facebook; dated for 1 year), we’ve been supporting conservative Republican candidates ever since.  She now lives in Boca Grande, Florida, runs the family business there, and Kim was quite helpful in getting the word out about Rick Scott in 2010.

-How much funding will that require, and where will you get it?

Similar to fellow fiscal conservatives such as Adam Hasner (someone I am supporting for the U.S. Senate nomination), I will work diligently with whatever financial resources are available.  I, like Adam, support a balanced budget, and if lesser financial resources are available for TV advertisements, etc. then greater allocations in “grassroots” support will be a reality.  I have served as an Evangelical United Methodist clergyperson, and more recently as a scholar-political activist, and so I work well within an institutional budget, and also frugally according to what is actually donated.  However, to realistically win a campaign for the G.O.P. nomination, at least $40 million will be a “reach goal.”  Even that amount is a frugal goal.  My hope is that through PAC’s, especially Pro-Life groups, along with those who support free-market higher education (something that I supported against the socialist tendencies of the current Obama administration that has federalized the student loan industry!!), and with unexpected donors who support a vision of moderate economic, yet conservative moral Jewish and Christian concerns then yes, I think the money might come into a King primary campaign.

-In other words, are you trying to further a movement, or are you really seriously looking at the next president of the United States in the mirror every morning?

As I responded to my (anonymous) Shorecrest Prep friend who worked on both George W. Presidential campaigns, the answer is YES.  I wish to further Pro-Life concerns (through incremental gains, if necessary) as far as I can take them in my lifetime.  And, as someone trained at all elite colleges and universities (e.g. Davidson College, Duke University), I know what it takes to lead.  Sometimes raw political power must be wielded.  Other times, a softer, more sophisticated approach is necessary.

I say this to make sure that before you really begin any serious campaign effort, that your commit yourself to the right campaign, whether it is a run for office (at any level) or perhaps simply as a leader of a new influential social conservative organization/PAC. Where can you do the most good and have the most influence?

Ideally, I want to give a robust chance to the pre-existing structures.  At one point I was in conversation with the Roman Catholic Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida’s Pro-Life Director about starting a new Pro-Life PAC.  A local campaign staffperson (i.e. former staffer of Jeff Brandes, District #52) even volunteered to serve on that officially.  However, since I have been recently approached by At Large Director for Florida Right to Life, Dr. Carl Pflug about serving as a fellow At Large Director for Florida Right to Life, I am looking forward to seeing “new enthusiasm,” especially for the Pro-Life Movement, through such older structures.  Another set of older structures include my direct, personal involvement with Catholic men’s groups such as Knights of Columbus (I am a Fourth Degree Knight) and the Ancient Order of Hibernians (I currently serve as Pinellas County Division Financial Secretary and Florida State Board Secretary).  Much good for both the Pro-Life Movement, and also for supporting our military’s leadership base can be done through groups such as these.  However, even though I am committed to such renewal work for the rest of my earthly life, yes, given the monumental shifts in U.S. cultural identity that President Obama has been forcefully shoving down our throats as Jewish and Christian conservatives, the fight for Judeo-Christian civilization itself makes it paramount that, like Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer, I take my stand, and say to Obama and Republicans-In-Name-Only (R.I.N.O.’s) “here I stand.”  So, if the people of the United States of America will trust a former I-AA three year starter small college football player with the reins of the Oval Office, then like Gerald Ford (who, I think, played offensive center also, yet at the University of Michigan), I will stand my ground, stand my ground against radical Islamic incursions into the U.S., stand my ground against socialist ideology, and stand my ground in defense of Jewish and Christian civilization.  The rest I just leave in the voters’ hands.

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