Hunting for votes in S.C.(Duncan Hunter)

San Diego Union-Tribune ^ | 2/26/07 | Dana Wilkie

[bushfamfan]

They say it is rare for someone to announce a presidential candidacy in the state of South Carolina. Unless of course, the candidate comes from the Palmetto State.

Duncan Hunter doesn't. His home is 2,288 miles to the west, where palm trees make us think of the natural beauty of the desert, not swamps.

They also say it makes more sense, if you're a White House hopeful, to focus your early money and energy on the two states that hold the nation's first presidential contests for both political parties – Iowa and New Hampshire. The idea is to visit so many town meetings you lose track, to practically own stock in the local coffee joints, and to talk the ear off every last voter and political operative you can hunt down.

You do all of this especially if you're a third-tier candidate, like our Republican congressman from Alpine, who desperately needs to make an early splash if he hopes to win the sort of national attention, campaign money and political momentum that might carry him through states with later primaries.

Since announcing around Halloween that he was considering a run for the GOP presidential nomination, Hunter has been to South Carolina at least four times, certainly more often than he has visited New Hampshire or Iowa. Late last month, he made his campaign official while in Spartanburg, S.C. And it was in South Carolina, North Carolina and South Dakota where he aired his first TV ads – commercials highlighting his belief that China is stealing American jobs and threatening U.S. security by “cheating” at trade.

[pissant]

No,it has not been heading that way for decades. It was democrat light for decades until Reagan ascended. After the last hurrah of 1994's Contract with America, its been downhill since.