Pat Dollard

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WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter’s office confirmed Tuesday that the Livonia Republican is seriously considering running for president.

On Monday, McCotter told the Washington, D.C., publication POLITICO that he will make a decision in the next two weeks.

“I think the majority of the Republican electorate isn’t happy with the choices they’ve got and want to take a look at new people,” McCotter told POLITICO’s Jonathan Martin. The congressman declined to talk to the Free Press about it further.

A week ago, the Free Press reported that McCotter, a staunch conservative in his fifth two-year term and known for his dry, sardonic wit and guitar playing, had ruled out a bid for the Senate but wouldn’t deny the possibility he might run for president.

McCotter is a free-market thinker who quotes conservative icons as easily as he can recite Led Zeppelin lyrics, but he would have a steep climb to national name recognition.

If candidates like Sarah Palin and Michelle Bachmann stay out of the race, McCotter could offer a choice to ideological conservatives — though in his recent book, “Seize Freedom! American Truths and Renewal in a Chaotic Age,” he decries ideology among conservatives. At the same time, he speaks against big government, higher taxes and bureaucratic regulations that could hurt business.

If he gets in, it will be a mad dash to raise his profile before the 2012 Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary.

Michael Dennehy, a Republican political consultant in New Hampshire, said he doesn’t know McCotter well, but if he wants to compete in that state’s first-in-the-nation primary in late January “he would need to put the time and energy into a serious campaign” that would give voters a chance to scrutinize him.

“If a candidate … has a good message with a specific niche and the ability to build an organization and raise enough money to be taken seriously, anything can happen in New Hampshire,” Dennehy said.