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.
Go Duncan!
I don't think we will have a next time. 2008 is for all the marbles. Soros has to get his horse into the White House for the 2010 agenda.
I think it is Duncan Hunter or bust.
He just lacks national name recognition.
The other side of the coin is.....he is not one of the current insiders.
My classmate is a graphic artist. Am going out to see her in early Feb.
We will design some grass roots posters and get them printed.
Have you been collecting the wire frames on others' signs? I have some but not enough. I could send you the poster and you could put it on your wire frame..
Suggestions....Help???
Do you mean people like Don Rumsfield, Gen. Peter Pace, Chuck Yeager, Frank Gaffney, etc?
Duncan Hunter, awarded the Keeper of the Flame Award 2006 (snip)
In late September, Hunter was the guest of honor at a black-tie dinner in a hall at Washington's Union Station, where the hawkish defense group the Center for Security Policy presented him with its annual "Keeper of the Flame" award. Among those lauding him at the Center for Security Policy banquet that evening was Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who said the Pentagon relies on Hunter's "wisdom, his leadership, his experience and his 'get it done' attitude.'
"It is something when he comes into your office like a whirling dervish and starts discussing a subject first at the national level and then down at the microlevel, and then leaves you pieces of metal on your desk that you can hardly lift and has explained exactly where it goes, what it's for, why it should be there and then wants to know why it isn't. And God bless him for it."
Rumsfeld also said the U.S. is more secure because of Hunter. "He's never let the troops down, and as a result of his leadership and his hard work, our nation is a safer place today," Rumsfeld told the dinner gathering that included Gen. Peter Pace, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"The war for the Free World will be the most important issue in 2008 and a guy like Duncan Hunter who has a serious grasp on what is at stake will be in an advantageous position come primary season," said Frank Gaffney, who also writes a weekly column for the conservative Washington Times newspaper.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/11/05/news/top_stories/21_51_5611_4_06.txt
Chuck Yeager Endorses Duncan Hunter for President
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1757517/posts
http://www.peacethroughstrengthpac.com/site/Viewer.aspx?iid=6941&mname=Article&rpid=2076
'Contribute Here' is probably always the first thing to go up!
That is my fear as well.
It's not ridicule. It is admiration. Zealous pursuit of a goal however farfetched and quixotic admirable. I see corollaries between Hunter supporters and Obama maniacs. Though clearly the Obama foolishness has a lot of " trendy hipness" to it but it has the same kind of wild eyed zeal.
But in the end this race will move relentlessly to the center. The nominees will be Giuliani and Hillary. You will do exactly what I'm gonna do. You will hold your nose and vote for Rudy. You, like me, will waive your Rudy banner if not jubilantly then obediantly. The reason is clear....Because Rudy ain't Hillary.
Now isn't this true,Antoninus?
Maybe you should run NYC for say a week and get back to us about executive experience and all, but of course you already know that NYC is larger then many states population
wise, budget wise and on and on.
Right now,
Hunter is in....good. Make your case man !!
TRUTH according to who?
Rino Rudy will also have to do without my vote. I do not vote for liberals.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.