A decorated Iraq war veteran Wednesday announced that he is forming "a grassroots, all volunteer organization" to draft The Donald for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
Nick McLaughlin, who served three tours in Iraq and received the Purple Heart, said a candidate like Trump is needed to help restore America's economic strength. He's never met Trump, a real estate developer, and said his effort is not funded, directed or authorized by the mogul.
The committee has established a website at www.DraftTrump2012.com and is seeking half a million online signatures urging Trump to get into the race by the end of the year.
"Under Barack Obama, America has become a laughingstock around the world," McLaughlin said."America needs a strong leader like Donald Trump to restore America's economic strength and respect around the world."
The effort is not strictly amateur. It includes political veterans like Lynn Krogh, former deputy press secretary for New York Governor George Pataki and former executive director of the Young Republican National Federation and Mark J. LaLiberte, who  served as the public policy advisor for former Manchester Mayor Frank Guinta, now a member of Congress. LaLiberte will serve as the New Hampshire Draft Trump Coordinator.