Joseph F. McCormick

Joseph Francis McCormick Jr. is a former American politicial candidate, political activist, author and public speaker.

Personal life
Joseph Francis McCormick Jr. was born November 17, 1962 and raised in Pawling, New York. His father was an aerospace engineer and his mother was a nurse. He moved to Albany, Georgia in 1994 and married Celeste Anderson, a former National Peanut Queen and head cheerleader.

Education and military service
McCormick attended Virginia Military Institute, graduating in 1984 with a bachelors degree. He was commissioned in the United States Army as a second lieutenant in the infantry, serving for two years with the 82nd Airborne Division and two years with the 1st Ranger Battalion until leaving active duty in 1988 as a captain. McCormick subsequently attended the Yale School of Management and graduated in 1990 with a Master’s Degree in Public and Private Management.

Republican candidacy
McCormick was chairman of the Dougherty Republican Party in 1997 and the Republican candidate for Georgia's 2nd congressional district seat in the US House of Representatives in 1998. McCormick defeated fellow Republican Dylan Glenn in the primary, but subsequently lost to incumbent Democrat Sanford Bishop in the general election. In that election, McCormick raised more money from individual contributors ($437,000 compared with Bishop's $200,000) while raising just $63,000 from Political Action Committees. Bishop raised more than $400,000 in PAC contributions.

Although McCormick did not campaign against the president, Democrats used the threat of the Clinton impeachment to mobilize black voters, and McCormick suffered along with other Republicans. McCormick did not run during the 2000 election cycle, serving, instead, as a campaign chairman for his former primary opponent, Dylan Glenn.

Transpartisanship
After his defeat in the 1998 congressional campaign, McCormick served as an alternate-delegate in the 2000 Republican convention. He then dropped out of active political involvement, citing a disillusionment with partisanship. In 2003, McCormick journeyed across America and interviewed rank and file citizens and political leaders of varying ideologies.

The experience motivated McCormick to begin organizing meetings among key national leaders from different perspectives. Between 2004 and 2007 he participated in seven such private, facilitated transpartisan leadership retreats, designed to build relationships and cooperation between over 145 national leaders. From these private dialogues emerged numerous cross-spectrum initiatives and coalitions, including the Save the Internet Coalition.

In 2011, McCormick co-authored the e-book Reuniting America: A Toolkit for Changing the Political Game.

An article in Utne Reader characterizes him as a radical centrist thinker and activist.