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.
He counts as an executive, Puh-lease! LOL!
Verb conjugation is apparently a passing fad.
I left the party in 2003. I am a conservative independent. I decided long ago to put principles ahead of party. If we end up with a RINO as the nominee, there are going to be a lot more out there in the wilderness with you.
Yeah, keep your eye out for a nice cabin site for me will you? Just in case.
Exactly the problem with Rudy. He did the fan dance in 2000 with the senate, alot of good republicans waited in deference to him and we got saddled Hillary!
Ah...How many times have I heard this before?...Hundreds. Thousands?
The simple reality is you will vote for Rudy because you dislike Rudy less than you loathe Hillary.
While you are all ' principles and values'now , on election day you will become the hard bitten pragmatist. You understand with crystaline clarity that failing to vote for Rudy is tantamount to a vote for Hillary. And that, Antoninus, is an abomination. So in the end , while you may never become Giuiliani supporter you WILL eventually be a Guiliani voter.
It's okay, Antoninus. You can admit it...
bump
Just be prepared for the Duncan Hitler with the mustache and swastika's. It's inevitable. If it has occurred to me it has occurred to others.
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.
I'll vote just like I did when New World Order Bush and Now Why am I Running Dole ran and the GOP will get the same results. GOPers who insist on nominating someone who can win are guaranteeing a loss. Don't deceive yourself.
Serial Bullies.
It has nothing to do with ill informed or naive. This is SDS.
They infiltrate, exploit and antagonize groups. They have been doing this since the invasion of Eastern Europe.
A vote for a Log Cabin candidate is no different then a vote for a democrate because they are funded from the same place.
I always find this amusing for some reason. Folks who SAY they will never vote for X because X is not " Y" enough. In the end X is much more "Y" than Z who has 0 'Y' Factor. And thus you vote for X.
Enjoy voting for Rudy. You don't have to tell anyone. But you will vote for Rudy.
X= Giuliani
Y= Conservative
Z= Hillary.
Go Duncan! We need a true Reagan conservative in the race. All we have now is a herd of RINOs.
The resemblance is kinda spooky...
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