McCotter officially announced his candidacy at the WAAM-sponsored "Freedom Festival" in Whitmore Lake, Michigan on July 2. He declared, "what we need in Washington is someone who understands that the wave of the future is not big government, but self-government".[20] He played with his rock band at the event.[21] Upon his entrance, Charlie Cook of The Cook Political Report rated McCotter's chances of nomination as "virtually impossible".[3] CBS News and other outlets commented on McCotter's lack of name recognition and described him as a "little-known" candidate.[22] Nevertheless, the Free Press noted he had about $480,000 available in his congressional account to transfer to his presidential campaign account.[20] Political communications operative Mark Corallo was hired along with a core group of advisers that included former Senator Bill Frist's chief of staff Eric Uelind, and former Iowa representative Christopher Rants.[22]