Lou Dobbs Mulls Presidential Run, Switches Stance on Immigration

Jan. 13, 2009— -- Sometimes it seems like there are two Lou Dobbs.

"Angry Lou" became a raging populist, cable-news crusader in recent years, turning his nightly CNN program, "Lou Dobbs Tonight," into a soapbox for rants on illegal immigration, federal spending, President Barack Obama and other things that made him mad.

But then, there's "Affable Lou." And as we found out on a visit to his 300-acre horse farm in rural New Jersey, Dobbs is a hard guy not to like.

Since November when Dobbs abruptly left CNN, the network he joined when it launched in 1980, he spends more time down on his farm.

The longtime anchorman's contract was not set to expire until the end of 2011, but CNN agreed to release him early, after months of tension with management.

Dobbs quickly hinted at a future in politics -- and told Moran he was even mulling a 2012 presidential run.

"I was thinking about running for office, thinking about politics," he said. "A number of people have asked me to think about president, Senate, and as I have said, it's flattering. It's heavy stuff. And I would be lying if I told you I wasn't enamored at various junctures of my thinking, with the idea."

Dobbs said he's been approached by people who want him to run as an independent. But while he admits he's thinking about the White House, he's clearly not sure.

When asked if he is qualified to hold the highest office in the land, Dobbs said, "I am not sure that I am. I think one of the most important qualifications, I am starting to believe, is first that the person not want it. ... We've got too many people who want that job. That job requires a sense of ambition of political purpose that I think is an enigma for most America. The idea that you think you are the best person of 300 million people to run this nation? I guarantee you, I don't think that."

Dobbs on Immigration: 'Hell Yes! I Am Changing My Tune'

The hottest button Lou Dobbs has pushed -- again and again -- is illegal immigration. It's the issue that made him a hero to some and a villain to others.

During the 2008 Republican presidential race, the head of an anti-illegal immigration group said that he wanted to draft Dobbs as a candidate because his organization was dissatisfied with the Republican record on immigration.

For years, in his "Broken Borders" segment, Dobbs warned of dire dangers from illegal immigrants, including running a false report on the number of leprosy cases in the United States allegedly caused by Mexican immigrants. He also railed against just about any plan that called for a path to legalization for illegal immigrants. Protests and campaigns were launched to get CNN to "dump Dobbs."

After being so outspoken on the immigration debate, where does Dobbs think he stands with Hispanic American voters?

"I don't know if I am popular," he said. "You know, it's hard to even be popular with national media. But I have tried. I hope I will be, by the way, because I intend to be part of the solution."

If he runs for office, Dobbs will need their votes. So, in a move that shocked critics and supporters alike, Dobbs told the Spanish language network Telemundo that now he actually supports a path to U.S. citizenship for illegal immigrants.

"We need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants on certain conditions," he told Telemundo.

Dobbs has been labeled a turncoat by fans, which he denies.

"I think I am being disqualified here," he said. "I have made mistakes as a journalist, and my god, I would actually consider other avenues to pursue, this sounds like a bad person to the bone.

"Hell yes, I am changing my tune. Absolutely. And if I weren't changing my tune, I think I would be something of a moron," Dobbs said. "I hope about every year over the past 50 years or so I grow, I learn, I hope, I try to become a better person."

Buttoned-Down Business Anchor Turned Raging Populist

In the early years at CNN, Dobbs was a buttoned-down business anchor. He was cozy with CEOs and an admitted cheerleader for corporate America.

"[CEOs] are as powerful as politicians, as recognizable as celebrities and always on the line. Many of us depend upon them for our jobs, we trust them with our savings. We look to them for inspiration and innovation," Dobbs said in a 2001 special titled "Hail to the Chiefs."

In 1999, Dobbs briefly left CNN to head up a dotcom start-up company called Space.com. It floundered and he returned to the network. But after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Dobbs got angry.

"2001, 2002 and a sense that the country was going the wrong direction," Dobbs said, "I frankly said, 'Enough is enough. I am going to speak truth to power.'"

Dobbs described this transition as an awakening, that he is "a man who started paying attention."

"I am not sitting here claiming to you that I am some sort of perfect individual who has known exactly what the hell he was doing, since he was 10 years old, or 55 years old, but I am learning. And I still have the same values. And I try to honor them," he said.

Humble Beginnings

Dobbs grew up in rural America: first the panhandle of Texas, and then the small town of Rupert, Idaho. His high school principal helped him get a scholarship to Harvard where he met -- and joined -- the elites he now scorns.

His lifestyle has changed dramatically since his humble childhood. He now resides on a spectacular 300-acre New Jersey horse farm with his wife, Debi.

Dobbs scorns the notion that the wealth he's attained makes him a hypocrite.

"I'm about as American, as working man as you get," he said. "I've worked my ass off my whole life. And I'm kind of proud of that."

Dobbs Takes Aim at Obama

Every weekday, Dobbs rallies the talk-radio faithful on his syndicated show, which, along with a Web site and a "Lou Dobbs Store" and three best-selling books, represent a campaign to brand him as "Mr. Independent."

In all of this, Dobbs has taken aim squarely at President Obama. It doesn't come as a surprise that Dobbs thinks the president deserves a C grade after his first year in office.

"He's not leading the nation in a direction that makes any sense to me," Dobbs said. "We will double the national debt in the next decade. Six trillion dollars added to the national debt in the course of the first 11 months of his presidency."

Last year at CNN, Dobbs took on the president with gusto. In a controversial move that angered CNN management, Dobbs repeatedly spotlighted the fringe claim of "the birther movement" -- conspiracy theorists convinced that Barack Obama was not born in the United States.

He aired stories eight times on his program on the birther movement and the question of whether Obama was an American. Dobbs insists he'd do it again.

"I did that much time?" Dobbs retorted, defending the coverage. "And what I said was? I believe he is a citizen of the United States, but I don't understand with army officers refusing to go to Afghanistan because they question whether or not he's a citizen, with federal lawsuits filed, with a full discussion going, public discussion going, why not just turn over the long form birth certificate and be done with the issue? Whoa, my god, I offended the national media by asking a question. Can I chew my nails while I worry about that?"

Dobbs has certainly grown from the small-town kid to the sober TV anchor to the angry populist crusader to ... what? The senator? Maybe. It depends on which Lou he chooses to be.