Posted on 01/24/2007 8:57:53 AM PST by Antoninus
California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter will formally announce his candidacy for president Thursday — less than two weeks after he took the first official step by filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to establish a presidential campaign “exploratory” committee.
According to a statement released Tuesday, Hunter will make his announcement at the Marriott Renaissance Park hotel in the South Carolina city of Spartanburg — located in the state’s overwhelmingly Republican northwestern region. The breakfast event is titled “America: The Strength of Freedom,” which also is Hunter’s campaign slogan.
“I will speak about a new American sunrise of opportunity, faith and freedom for the citizens of our great nation,” said Hunter.
The choice of South Carolina as the venue symbolizes the strategy Hunter is using, as he seeks to extend beyond his very limited political base in the San Diego-area 52nd Congressional District and overcome a big deficit in national name identification.
The 58-year-old Hunter, a 14-term incumbent who chaired the Armed Services Committee prior to the Democrats’ House takeover and now is its ranking member, is campaigning both on his hawkish views on defense issues and his equally staunch conservatism on financial and social issues.
In order to gain any traction in the presidential race, he must quickly make an impression on voters in places such as strongly conservative-leaning South Carolina, which in recent years has emerged as a Republican Party stronghold.
South Carolina has several military bases, so Hunter may at least get a hearing from voters there because of his background on national security issues. He is one of the staunchest defenders of the Bush administration’s policies in the Iraq war.
Hunter, who has served on the Armed Services Committee since he was elected to Congress in 1980, has a personal background of military service as a member of the Army from 1969 to 1971. He received a Bronze Star for participating in 25 helicopter combat assaults during the war in Vietnam.
In his release, Hunter touted his experience as well as his political leanings, stating that he is “considered by many to be the most conservative Republican in the presidential race.”
Along with his defense posture, Hunter is a fervent opponent of illegal immigration, and reaffirmed his socially conservative platform Monday on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Hunter, according to the Associated Press, told participants of the March for Life anti-abortion rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.: “If we have a judicial applicant, a judicial nominee who can look at a sonogram of an unborn child and not see the value of human life ... if I should become president of the United States, he will not receive a judicial appointment.”
Hunter, though, faces strong competition for the conservative vote from the only other Republican officeholder who is an official presidential candidate: Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who received a 100 percent score from The American Conservative Union in 2005. The other official candidate, attorney John Cox of Illinois, is emphasizing his own socially conservative stances.
Among others who have set up presidential exploratory committees or are considering bids, there are social conservatives — such as Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo and former Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III — who would be directing appeals to that wing of the Republican electorate.
Hunter enters relatively unknown outside defense-related circles. Having never run for office on a larger stage than his congressional district, he will likely find fundraising a significant challenge.
That certainly will not be the case for prospective front-running candidates such as Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, nationally known figures who have formed exploratory committees and currently lead the GOP field in national polls.
Last week, though, Hunter took a swipe at McCain by releasing a straw poll taken in Arizona’s Maricopa County (Phoenix), in which Hunter finished first and the homestate senator ran fourth. Though Republicans in the state’s most populous county called the results surprising, McCain’s maverick tendencies have angered members of his party in the past.
I'm curious. Are you stating Hunter will win his home state of California?
LOL, and now I see I misspelled your name too. Sorry about that.
Well, Jon Cary was in Vietnam....
::ducks!::
Woohoo for Duncan Hines!
Hunter isn't gonna do squat about border security or illegal immigrants other than jibber jab for votes about it. The only way to solve the illegal immigration and border security problem is threaten those who hire illegals with substantial prison sentences.I guarantee you that if you toss Buffy LaFarge of Grosse Pointe, Michigan in Prison for 18 months for hiring a Honduran nanny,Pepita. The the illegalnanny problem is over. But we don't. They pay a minimal fine which doesn't mean squat to Buffy. And that isn't gonna happen. Why?...Because fortunes are being made by hiring illegal immigrant labor. Vegas RUNS on illegals. On any given night you could arrest 20,000 illegals in Vegas kitchens and housekeeping alone.
So your " Hunter will solve the illegal immigration problem"is a load of crap and you know it. Hunter says that because his distict isn't hispanic.. YET. But it will be...and when it goes hispanic Hunter will be singing Cielo Lindo to beat the band...
Yeah...If You vote for Duncan Hines you don't solve the illegal immigration problem but you get some decent brownies. If you vote for Duncan Hunter you don't solve the illegal immigration problem and you DON'T Get any decent brownies either....
Vote Duncan Hines... You'll be up to your ass in Guatemalans,Hondurans, Nicarguans and Salvadorans but at least you got some decent brownies...Vote Duncan Hunter and you don't get squat and you'll STILL be up to your ass in Guatemalans...
"Hunter will solve the illegal immigration problem"is a load of crap and you know it."
I don't believe I said he would solve it. Hunter is responsible for the San Diago fence so, he has already done something I find worthy.
I asked if you had any other candidates with his credentials in mind.........well?
Duncan Hunter hasn't done SQUAT about illegal immigration and won't ever DO SQUAT about illegal immigration other than posture and snort about it. Hell...90% of the lawns mowed and hedges trimmed in his district are mowed and trimmed by illegals. I betcha the landscaping done at his district office is done by illegals and Duncan Hunter pretends it isn't....but his people sign the checks. Duncan Hunter is another posturing load.
>>>>Hunter is responsible for the San Diago fence ...
Hunter also introduced the legislation calling for the construction of a reinforced fence along the entire U.S.-Mexico border. It was incorporated into H.R. 6061, the Secure Fence Act.
Ah...The San Diego fence...Muwhahaha...what a crock. We are up to our ass in illegals. Wanna solve the illegal immigrant problem? Make it a felony to hire an illegal immigrant. 18 months for the first offence...five years for subsequent offenses. The problem is solved. No one will hire illegals and they will quit coming. Don't make it a felony and illegals will continue to come in massive numbers...they will work cheap and no one will report them...
I said no such thing. What I will say. And you can quote me on this, is that...
"...Hunter has a much better chance of winning California than Romney has of winning Massachusetts!"
It will be interesting to see how the dem's, who campaigned on Kerry's short-lived military record will now have to demonize Hunter after he wins the nomination.
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