Duncan Hunter on the Prowl for Support in Central Iowa

Cyclone Conservatives Blog ^ | 4-1-07 | Don McDowell

[WalterSkinner]

Interesting piece. Most notable IMO is how DH's economic message resonates with Middle Americans...

[WalterSkinner]

PING Again

[Fierce Allegiance]

GO HUNTER!

[cripplecreek]

My mother dumped Tancredo for Hunter last week and appears to be firmly on board. She likes Tancredo but likes Hunter on a wider range of issues.

[WalterSkinner]

My mother dumped Tancredo for Hunter last week

LOL--for some reason that sounds really funny...

[David Isaac]

Sounds like Hunter made a pretty good impression on this guy. There were quite a few college Republicans at the Michigan rally also. Fine young people.

[buckeye49]

My politically naive daughter in law heard him on TV a couple of weeks ago, and now she is singing his praises to her lefty sister. Hope she makes some headway. At the very least, I hope she shuts her up. Although, interestingly, this sister can’t stand HR Clinton, and says she won’t vote for her, because she is a “flip flopper”. I laughed out loud at that one. When referring to her sister, my DIL whispers, “she’s a liberal”, like she doesn’t want to say it out loud!!

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Join the "Duncan Hunter for 08'" ping list! FReepmail Sam Hunter if you have a question for Duncan Hunter! What are Sam Hunter's answers? Click here for the Weekly Answers Thread, posted every Friday! Want to see Duncan Hunter in Action? Watch his videos on his Youtube channel!

The whole blog post:

xxxx

Last evening I travelled through the stormy weather to Webster City to the Hamilton County Republican spring fundraiser dinner where United States Congressman Duncan Hunter was the keynote speaker.

This was the first time I had attended this event but since this is a county that is very near to Story, I thought it wouldn't be a bad campaign event to hit up. For $8.00 you got a pretty good meal and a delicious dessert, which the Congressman served up himself. Definitely the politician thing to do at these sorts of events. There were about 60 to 75 people in attendance including State Republican Co-Chair Leon Mosley, State Auditor Dave Vaudt, and State Representative Dave Deyoe.

Duncan's remarks initially were about 15 minutes and then he took questions for another 20 or so. His reception there was very warm and apparently he spoke at a VIP event before hand and those in attendance were impressed by his remarks there.

Duncan started his remarks with some nice stories about his family and talked about his literature that his campaign passed around. He then talked very candidly about his work in Congress on the House Armed Services Committee, especially the past 4 years, where he served as the chairman of that powerful committee. He really liked to talk about the state of America's Armed Services as it was during the Clinton administration and then the current situation and how there are marked differences. His comments on overall strategy in Iraq were definitely interesting. He compared Iraqi soldiers to that of football players saying that they are continuing to get training (practice) but haven't really had a chance to play a game yet. He says he has been working with the White House to get many more Iraqi troops actually into the battlefield so that they can be more battle tested and more capable when the American troops really do stand down and begin to leave.

He talked very passionately against the resolution passed by the House and Senate last week saying that there are provisions hidden away in that bill that even the most anti-war Democrats can't be proud of, especially a provision that says that no American troop can go into an area for a mission until there has been a 14 day waiting period and the mission or act has been cleared by the House Armed Services committee. He gave a great example that if there is intelligence pointing to the location of Osama Bin Laden and immediate action must be taken or if 15 American soldiers are taken hostage by a rogue nation such as Iran, American military would have to wait 2 weeks before action could be taken or the law would be broken under this current legislation. This is why it is a good thing we have United States Congressmen like Tom Latham and Duncan Hunter who are standing up to the Democrats and telling them of the dangers of micromanaging war efforts out of the capitol building in Washington D.C.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of his remarks centered around trade. Hunter is a strong opponent of free trade deals like CAFTA and NAFTA and talked about the trade inequities that accompany these bills and how American companies and thereby workers are getting shafted. He received warm response to this and a couple of follow up questions about a North American Union and a North American Trade Highway. Hunter made it clear that as President he would not allow such action and that received heavy applause. I have always been a strong proponent of free trade and am generally pleased with most of the results of the big free trade deals, but I am also cogniscent of the fact that both agreements have some flaws.

On immigration, Hunter is a strong proponent of building the infamous wall on the boarder and says in his district, which is near San Diego, the wall has cut down on drug smuggling, human trafficking, and definitely put a kabash on organized crime. He made the pledge, which got strong applause from the crowd, that within the first 6 months of his presidency, the fence on the border will be completed. He gave kudos to Congressman Latham for his work on the appropriations committee on this issue and Congressman King for his work on pushing the issue on a constant basis. So much so, that he said he had constituents in his district wanting to see a wall built just like the one that "that Iowa Congressman" shows on CSPAN late at night.

He also answered questions about Don't Ask, Don't Tell and said he believes that open homosexuality does not belong in the military and also about taxes and said that the Republicans may have lost their way a little on spending but compared to what Democrats want to do, Republicans will seem frugal.

He ended his speech by telling some heartwarming stories of his father and of his son and their military experience and he believed that it was their service that makes this country great and why he is ready to be the President. He also enjoyed talking of his grandchildren and why it is important to preserve the country for the next generations. He mentioned that he was elected to Congress in 1980 in what has been dubed 'The Reagan Revolution' and said that the party and country is hungry for another Reaganesq leader.

Overall, I enjoyed my evening in Webster City. Congressman Hunter is a pretty engaging fellow. He has a very commanding voice that is very clear and had some good humor about him. I wouldn't consider him to have near the charisma of Mitt Romney or Mike Huckabee but he's not dull by any means. If I could offer some constructive criticism, I would say that he needs to exude more of an 'executive aura' about him. He stood the entire time with his feet together and kind of leaning on a podium a little too casually for me. I thought he could have used a more commanding demeanor, though, what his body language lacked, he made up for in the strength of his voice.

Hunter definitely has some great conservative credentials to him. He's competing with Tancredo, at the moment, for the hardcore immigration voters and he's competing against several of the other Republicans, notably McCain, for the strong and predominant victory in Iraq vote.

There were several other campaign representatives there but I think Hunter did himself a lot of good with this appearance. There will definitely be a lot of conservatives that are undecided (like myself) who will definitely enjoy hearing from him (in my case again) because I think he has a message that can resonate.

Afterward I introduced myself, invited him to come to as many of Iowa's college campuses as possible, and thanked him for getting into the race. I just hope all Republicans take the opportunities that we have here in Iowa to go see as many of the candidates as possible because they all have unique issues that they bring to the race and definitely have unique qualities that are important. Duncan's a smart guy and an engaging fellow. You'll leave the room smarter than when you entered and you'll definitely have plenty of discussion foder for the way home.

Hunter's worth going to see and hear, in my opinion.

xxxx

Hunter's going slow but steady. Keep supporting him!

[alicewonders]

KEEP GOIN’ DUNCAN HUNTER!!!

[WFTR]

I wonder how big a readership this guy has and how many friends he will tell about his evening. He says nice things, but I don't think he'd vote for Mr. Hunter if the election were held tomorrow. On the other hand, if he helps us get name recognition, we can get past the "he can't win" hurdle. The nice thing about Iowa and New Hampshire is that personal contacts can mean a great deal.

Bill

[WalterSkinner]

..citizen journalists in the Blogosphere are now an important part of the process IMHO...

[Kevmo]

Thanks for the post.

Hunter is a strong opponent of free trade deals like CAFTA and NAFTA and talked about the trade inequities that accompany these bills and how American companies and thereby workers are getting shafted. He received warm response to this and a couple of follow up questions about a North American Union and a North American Trade Highway. Hunter made it clear that as President he would not allow such action and that received heavy applause.
***I KNOW this message strikes a chord — the blogger noticed that he got heavy applause even though the blogger disagreed with him.

On immigration, Hunter is a strong proponent of building the infamous wall on the boarder and says in his district, which is near San Diego, the wall has cut down on drug smuggling, human trafficking, and definitely put a kabash on organized crime.
***Fascinating take on the wall strategy from this blogger, calling it infamous. Note the direct correlation with organized crime.

If I could offer some constructive criticism, I would say that he needs to exude more of an ‘executive aura’ about him. He stood the entire time with his feet together and kind of leaning on a podium a little too casually for me. I thought he could have used a more commanding demeanor, though, what his body language lacked, he made up for in the strength of his voice.
***I’m not sure about this part because I have not yet seen Hunter in person. It seems like it comes from clear motives, so I’m going to ping Sam in case his dad is looking for some good feedback on how he comes across.

[WalterSkinner]

..maybe he should see these:

Right to Life Rally
Firefighter's Presidential Forum

..he looks quite presidential to this individual...

[Elyse]

The nice thing about Iowa and New Hampshire is that personal contacts can mean a great deal.

I think this is going to be the secret to his success. He is the tortoise and the other candidates are the hares. Many of the other candidates are getting nation-wide media focus, but a lot of that focus is negative. I have a good feeling that the debate in May is going to be the turning point in the no name recognition, he can't win hurdle, too.

[TomasUSMC]

What will the Hunter do about H1B visas?

[Sun]

Does anyone know who might have a ping list for Iowa?

[WalterSkinner]

..I found this--I think it's the member's list for Iowa

Iowa

[WalterSkinner]

What will the Hunter do about H1B visas?

..we'll forward that to Sam, DH's son...

[Sun]

Thanks.

I’ll send them a ping.

[Sun]

fyi on a super candidate!