JC Watts: ”Politics Has Passed Me By”
‘Politics has passed me by,’ says former Congressman J.C. Watts
By RANDY KREHBIEL World Staff Writer
Former Republican Congressman J.C. Watts said Wednesday he decided “politics has passed me by” when he was told his speeches would have to be “more hostile” to President Barack Obama if he wanted to run for governor in 2010.
“It’s gotten worse since then,” said Watts, who appeared with former U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn at a Tulsa Regional Chamber event Wednesday at the Cox Convention Center downtown.
Watts said he was “flirting” with the governor’s race in 2010 and had assembled an informal team of advisers, but ultimately took a pass.
Elected in 1994, Watts left Congress in 2002 to become a lobbyist and concentrate on his business endeavors. He recently agreed to take over leadership of the Oklahoma-based nonprofit Feed the Children.
Watts did not completely rule out a future gubernatorial campaign, despite his remark — made twice — about politics passing him by. He did say he has “no interest in being one of many,” meaning a member of a legislative body.