Posted on 03/02/2007 6:41:14 AM PST by pissant
The FOX television talking heads were gushing over the usual suspects- Mitt Romney, Rudy Gulliani and John McCain- when the results of the South Carolina Republican straw poll rolled in and left the pundits stuttering and speechless in mid sentence.
In a surprise result not predicted by any of the national political commentators, California Congressman Duncan Hunterfinished second with 110 votes behind Rudy Gulliani's 123 votes with 71 of the 75 precincts reporting.
Arizona Sen. John McCain was third with 86 votes, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had 59 votes, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback had 68 votes, and Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee rounded out the front-runners with 18 votes.
The underdog Hunter has now taken first in an Arizona straw poll and second in the South Carolina.
The charm of Duncan Hunter is that he is authentic. In a world of hyper-branding and packaging... where politicial speeches sound as if they are the result of focus group studies... Hunter comes across as unscripted, unrehearsed and firm in his beliefs.
...And do not dismiss his unwavering support for Border Patrol Agents Ramos & Compeon. It is the stuff that resonates with people.
As I wrote in The Washington Times back in November, Hunter has a message that connects with republican voters...particularly those in early primary states such as Iowa, South Carolina and New Hampshire. His message is one of peace through strength, conservative social values and conservative illegal immigration policy.
Any "Trash Duncan" threads you care to link to?
The publicity Hunter gets from this is invaluable. And his campaign only had to round up 100 people or so to cast votes to get it.
So it's likely to have a positive effect on his campaign nationally.
My observation is that it's a PR stunt for ANY campaign, and media manipulation of it.
I'm not saying it's not important. Campaigns wouldn't care if they weren't.
I wouldn't draw any conclusions from it as to what current sentiment in the state is for any candidate. Not Rudy, not Hunter, not nobody.
You can pull your own head out of the sand by simply reading FR. I don't have time to track down every instance I've read in the past few weeks...
I brought up the same exact issues with a Hunter supporter earlier this week. I was told the Club for Growth is not reliable because as a 501(c) corporation, it is on "corporate welfare".
Protectionism, "Yes" on Sarbox, Medicare Drug Rx plan, No Child Left Behind; "No" votes against the RSC fiscally conservative budgets, a "C" from the National Taxpayers Union... not exactly an economic conservative, IMHO.
In March, 1975, NOBODY knew who Jimmy Carter was. In March, 1991, anybody who happened to know who Bill Clinton was only remembered that he gave a speech at the 1988 DNC convention that went on forever.
The real loser in Romney who also spent a good amount of time working for that vote.
For sure Linseed Graham did not help McC one bit.
Oh SOooo TRUE.
DUNCAN HUNTER 2008!!
Remember Hunter's quote about not needing all those millions to prove himself a conservative? He IS a conservative!
But I have seen Newt thread after Newt thread trashed.
Lets wait and see. Rush is waiting for a true conservative to emerge before he endorses a candidate. Hunter is the "real deal".
When/if Rush comes out for Hunter, and I think he will, the DBM will have no choice but to start covering him. At that point he will become competitive with Rudy.
McCain is finished IMO.
I too have witnessed what you describe. It's nice to finally have a candidate that I don't have to pinch my nose for.
Give 'em h311, Hunter !
"The Rudy victory doesn't sit good with me..."
In SC there is a subspecies of Republican which is not quite RINO but has always had a big government leaning. They love Social Security, are devout Christians and often split their votes between dems and Republicans. I would call them the Fritz Hollings Republicans. They would vote for Strom Thurmond and Fritz Hollings and could not see the difference. I think that Rudy's 9/11 publicity makes him sort of a Fritz to them. Legislative members of this group have given gun owners fits for years because of their support for SLED's position on gun control instead of their constituents.
Did you see this? Go, Duncan, Go!
Definately closing the gap
"BOY! For a candidate with NO chance of winning, and that's TOO conservative to win, and NO name recognition, and NO chance of raising enough money to win the nomination, ol' Hunter is sure upsetting a lot of faux conservatives expectations by doing so well in these early straw polls. I wonder why?"
faux conservatives should read liberals in conservative clothing. Easier for them to understand we know who they are.
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