By DAN KRISTIE, Staff Writer

Lower Merion management consultant Howard A. Cohen added his name last week to the list of candidates seeking the Republican nomination to run for the 6th District congressional seat.

Cohen, who served as revenue secretary under former Gov. Dick Thornburg, announced his candidacy from his home on Nov. 12. He said that his experience in the public and private sectors gives him an advantage over the three other candidates in the race.

"I looked at the other candidates, and none have the kind of experience needed to get something done in the next congress," Cohen said.

Cohen is joining a Republican field already populated by State Rep. Curt Schroder, R-155th of East Brandywine, Chester County Recorder of Deeds Ryan Costello, of East Vincent, and Steve Welch, a businessman from Lower Providence Township.

Running for the 6th District Democratic nomination are former newspaperman Doug Pike, of Lower Merion, and physician Manan Trivedi, of Reading.

Incumbent Jim Gerlach, a Republican, is not running for reelection. Instead, he is seeking the Republican nomination to run for governor.

Cohen said that fiscal restraint and economic recovery will be the centerpieces of his campaign. This, he said, is because jobs are central to the identity and wellbeing of Americans.

"When you meet someone, the first thing you ask them is, 'What do you do?" Cohen said. "What you do is large part of who you think you are and who other people think you are … so what we need to do is get people back to work, back into jobs."

Cohen criticized Congress and President Obama for attempting to use government spending to restore the economy.

The stimulus bill, he said, did not act fact enough to create jobs. He said that a reduction in the wage tax would have been more effective, because it would have allowed private employers to hire more workers.

"When the Obama Administration had a choice between increasing public spending or relying on individual spending, they made the wrong choice," Cohen said. "I would not have voted for the stimulus, nor for the healthcare plan now under consideration."

He said that he believes the U.S. should strive to maintain its global military dominance.

"A weak America tempts and a strong America is necessary," he said.

He said the U.S. should act aggressively to keep Iran from developing nuclear weapons. And, he said, he will defer to President Obama on Afghanistan policy.

He said that he supported the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and believes that, when the U.S. went forward with the invasion, it was acting on the best available intelligence.

Cohen said that he does not like the label "social moderate." But his stances on issues such as gay rights, abortion rights, and stem cell research suggest that he is not someone who would, in contemporary American politics, be labeled a social conservative.

Cohen said that he is opposed to a federal law that would ban homosexual marriage. He said that individual states should decide whether or not to allow homosexual marriage.

And, he said, homosexuals should be allowed in the military as long as their presence does not inhibit the military's effectiveness or capacity to fight.

He said that he will uphold Roe v. Wade unless the Supreme Court decides that the decision is unconstitutional. But, he said, he supports making quicker the process of adopting a child.

Cohen also said that he supports stem cell research.

The 6th district contains portions of Chester, Montgomery and Berks counties, as well as an infinitesimal sliver of Lehigh County. The prevailing political wisdom is that candidates from the district's Chester and Berks county portions would fare better in the general election.

Cohen said that he is conscious of this opinion. And, he said, he is aware that some political observers believe that candidates from Lower Merion, a Main Line community, have a difficult time relating to voters from the rest of the district's areas.

But, he said, he believes his message will reach and resonate with all of the district's voters.

"We're not going to be in a closet here in Lower Merion, while everyone else is prancing around in Chester and Berks counties," he said. "We're going to run a vigorous campaign in all parts of the district … the voters of the 6th District are not parochial. They will hear and learn enough to see that this district has a choice."

To contact staff writer Dan Kristie, send an e-mail to dkristie@dailylocal.com.