“You can hold on to the ‘you’re giving Hunter a bad name’ meme if you like.”
LOL! That’s cute. ;-)
However, that’s really a secondary theme. While it’s true that some Hunter supporters are not helping Mr. Hunter’s reputation any, two more important issues for me are: to determine whether my vague initial impressions were off-base or not; to encourage comity among conservatives so that there isn’t a lot of ill will to overcome when the party starts coalescing around an acceptable candidate.
I could make much more striking criticisms of Mr. Hunter than saying he’s a competent speaker but not especially inspiring. However, Mr. Hunter is “inside the circle,” as it were. He is a candidate who should be acceptable to pretty much any conservative or Republican. Thus, folks should be careful about how they criticize him. Folks should especially avoid lies (I haven’t seen any myself about Mr. Hunter) and distortions (I saw some early on, but less-so recently) about Mr. Hunter. As well, personal attacks against posters who support Mr. Hunter should be avoided.
Similiarly, Mr. Thompson is “inside the circle,” too. He is a candidate who should be acceptable to pretty much any conservative or Republican. Folks should be careful about how they criticize him, and personal attacks against his supporters should be avoided. Unfortunately, I don’t see that sort of restraint by some Hunter supporters.
There are other candidates who are not so clearly “inside the circle,” or really are clearly “outside the circle.” Mr. Giuliani would run more truthfully as a moderate Democrat than as any type of Republican. Who knows what’s really up with Mr. Romney. And Mr. McCain appears to be insane.
Nonetheless, even here, it’s important not to lie or distort records, or attack fellow posters.
When I see folks post over and over that Mr. Thompson appointed Mr. Abraham as his campaign manager and thus Mr. Thompson is both anti-Israel and pro-open borders, or when I see folks say that Mr. Thompson’s marital history is little different from Mr. Giuliani’s, or that raising $3.5 million in 26 days is pathetic (how much has Mr. Hunter raised since announcing?), well, I equate that with early attempts against Mr. Hunter’s reputation to tie him to the Cunningham scandal, and other cr@p against Mr. Hunter.
sitetest
I agree its important not to lie and distort. But like everything, even facts are open to interpretation, at least about what that fact portends. For example, it is a fact that Hunter has supported a experimental VTOL plane with earmarks that has yet to prove itself worthy. Is that another example of porkbarrel spending or is it a sign of his commitment to cutting edge technology. It all depends on your view and understanding of Mr. Hunter’s career.
That is why we debate these things. The personal insults are not useful, for anyone, yet they seem to be a long standing by product of political discussion...going back to the days of the caveman.
In an ideal world, we’d have a concensus conservative to rally around by now. I know fred fans point to the current polls and say “we do, its Fred, quit wasting your time on a 2nd tier congressman”. Hunter fans respond “Sorry, but Hunter is the best man we’ve seen since RWR”. And so it goes, at least until the primaries approach.