The field for the GOP presidential bid is crowded, but as far as state Rep. Charlie Collins is concerned, it’s lacking something.
That something is U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton.
To address this issue, the Detroit-born Collins, R-Fayetteville, launched a Draft Captain Cotton for President 2016 website, CallingCaptainCotton.com, in order to encourage Cotton for a 2016 presidential campaign. Currently, the website gives information on Cotton’s background and encourages visitors to submit their email address.
“There are many fine candidates currently in the race,” Collins says on the welcome page. “This isn’t about them. This is about the need for a battle-tested leader to give us hope and keep our country safe.”
Like Cotton, Collins has a military background, having graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy and served on the USS America. After his military service, work brought him and his family — consisting of his wife and four children — to Fayetteville. Eventually, Collins joined Crown Partners Executive Search, LLC, a recruiting firm that focuses on supplier teams for Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club in Northwest Arkansas.
Collins, who says he first met Cotton in 2010, has served as state representative for District 84 since 2011 after Rep. Jon Eubanks, R-Paris, was moved to another district in 2010. Now, Collins is in his third term as state representative.
“I have been hearing great things about [Cotton] since before we met, and he absolutely impressed me when we met,” Collins says. “The more I learned about him, the more impressed I became. I got to watch him up close during the 2012 Congressional race, and I could see he was a Reagan-esque leader. As I saw him grow into a U.S. senator, I was convinced he was presidential timber.”
We spoke to Collins about his relationship with Cotton, why he thinks Cotton is a leader the U.S. needs and why he thinks the website could have an impact.
Q: What motivated you to start this website?
A: I think what we are seeing in this presidential race is that voters are looking for a leader, not decades of Washington experience. It’s important to me that we’re looking at the very best potential leader, and I think that is Sen. Tom Cotton.
Q: Why Cotton?
A: Sen. Cotton could well be the best leader for America, and that’s what Americans are looking for. I think Cotton is Reagan-esque in his leadership qualities. I think he is a leader who will defeat evil dictators and terrorists, as well as turn America into a good job magnet and reduces burdensome taxes and regulations.
The corporate income tax is so high that we’re begging companies to leave America. He’ll turn this country into a business magnet once again.
He’s not an appeaser who will look for an easy out. We’re going to need that kind of leader in the White House to clean up our foreign-policy messes from the last few years. He will spread the freedoms we enjoy in America. That is something that evil dictators try to stop.
He can make a tough decision and stick with it. He understands and is not afraid to do the right thing. He’s got other qualities that make him stand out from the other candidates running.
Q: What is an example of him making a tough decision and sticking with it?
A: When he was running against Sen. Mark Pryor, President Obama said Syria had crossed a “red line” and said America needs to act. It was very unpopular in Congress, and not a lot of hands went up, but Sen. Cotton’s did. He knew it was a bad idea politically. [Despite Cotton’s support], Obama backed down, and look at the situation we have today. I believe that would change with Sen. Cotton, and the evil dictators also know that.
Cotton doesn’t take war lightly and sees it as a last resort. But peace through strength needs to be re-established.
Q: What are some other qualities you see in him that would make him a good leader?
A: On the economic front, Sen. Cotton has a Harvard education and Arkansas values. He understands both the statistics and numbers as far as the economy, as well as knowing what it’s like to work every day.
You put those two things together, and you’ve got a leader imbued with sensitivity and capability to make decisions good for everybody.
Q: Do you think he can make himself stand out from the numerous other candidates for the GOP nomination?
A: As you’ve seen, current polls show people who are unknown poll at higher numbers. The modern media has created the ability for people to learn about people quicker than in the past. [Republican presidential hopefuls Carly] Fiorina and [Ben] Carson are an example of that. Americans are looking for leadership. … Trump is a leader in real estate, Fiorina in business and Carson in medicine.
But the best leader is going to be somebody who knows how the system works. Sen. Cotton has served in the military and held government office, but he’s not been there so long as to be part of the problem. He has enough experience to see how things work. He stands head and shoulders on keeping us safe and promoting American values and national security interests.
Tom would need to establish himself in the SEC primary on March 1. Arkansas is one of the states that moved its primary to that date. If he really impresses in that primary, then the train is running downhill and we’re on track for Cotton to be president.
Q: What have you heard from the public so far?
A: I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the reception. We’ve had 10,000 hits to our Web page. Lots of inquiring from the media because people want to know about this. I’m hearing from people in politics calling me and wanting to understand how this will affect them. It’s perceived as very serious, and it is exciting. Of course, it’s not universally positive because not every person will be happy, and much of that is on social media.
Q: Do you know Cotton personally?
A: Yes I do. I told him at an event that I thought he should run. He said he was focused on being U.S. senator. This is not Sen. Cotton’s doing this but Charlie Collins trying to get him into the race.
Q: What was Cotton’s reaction to the website?
A: If Sen. Cotton were adamantly opposed to this, I would have expected a reaction. So far, there have been no responses [from Cotton] to inquiries from the press. This is the best reaction.