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.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
Ann Coulter wrote an excellent article about that years ago.
Doesn't surprise us! Go Duncan!
Apparently not. Obviously a segment of the grass roots, the conservative segment, really like him. He won the straw poll in AZ as well.
This is good news. Name recognition is important, especially during the primaries.
Plus, this gives Hunter a chance to raise more $$$.
bump for Hunter!
Conversely, the more people figure out the truth about Rudy, his numbers will plummet.
I don't care how popular someone is in New York, without the South it is impossible for a Republican to be elected president.
Great illustration!
I love that cartoon! Three headed RINO - LOL!!
The annoying thing is that some of the "conservative" talking heads (yeah, Yawn Vanity, I'm talking about you) continue to treat Hunter as a nobody and liberal Rudy as the "rock star". How much of their audience are these people going to have to lose before they "get it"?
Yawn lost me awhile ago. Good things its hapless Colmes he has for a partner, or he'd lose every argument.
BFL
I will admit that I haven't been paying much attention to any of this 08 stuff, but I just watched a short YouTube video of Hunter for the heck of it.
I'm totally speechless. The man just comes across as presidential.
Keep Cheney as Veep and we can save a lot of time and money on primaries.
Good news for Duncan Hunter. He is in that mish-mash of second tier candidates right now, but he looks poised to become "the alternative", elevating him to the lowest rung on the top tier of candidates.
That will allow him a much larger pool of donors, and if McCain drops out early (which I predict he will), it will open up a lot of McCain donors that he will have easy access too.
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