Duncan Hunter Surprises Pundits In South Carolina Straw Poll

Rick Amato Show ^ | 3/2/07 | Rick Amato

[SnarlinCubBear]

FABULOUS NEWS!!!! He's the hope of the Republican party, whether they know it or not.

[Antoninus]

The thing about hunter is he would energize the conservative base, and bring in the blue collar democrats. That would leave Obama-Clinton with the NPR vote.

I think you've hit upon why the media tries to ignore him and promotes a sure loser like Rudy instead.

[stentorian conservative]

I'm not a "woo-hooing" kinda gal but. . .

WOO-HOO

[ZULU]

Send this tape to EVERYONE you can think of who is conservative. It will finish that phoney Giuliani for good!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVBtPIrEleM

[Uncle Chip]

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 & Campeon. It is the stuff that resonates with people.

And this is why he resonates with me. Duncan Hunter for 2008.

[johnny7]

The Rudy victory doesn't sit good with me...

[usslsm51]

Thanks for the info. I like what I read.

[mek1959]

I'm with you VanDeKoik

I'm almost 50 and it's been a long long time since someone has energized me - Reagan was the last. I've contributed, promoted him amongst friends and will volunteer time when needed. It's great finding someone with real conviction and not with his finger in the wind waiting to see what someone wants to hear.

[Ingtar]

The later results, still not final, had it Rudy 168 and Duncan 162. There is still the chance that he won this. But by the time that is determined, it will be buried in the weekend press of funerals for fallen women and such.

[Fierce Allegiance]

"He has no chance" my ass! This was HUGE for Hunter.

[Leatherneck_MT]

"A man amongst boys."

Amen to that

[TommyDale]

This might make some of the Rudyphiles look over their shoulder a bit. They have been assuming that the South and Midwest would jump right in lockstep with Rudy. Ain't happening. This is actually a repudiation of his liberal views.

[JRochelle]

Hunter came in second with no paid staff, only volunteers.

McCain had paid staff and robo phone calls. Romney advertised on TV!

And Hunter beat them both simply with REAL grassroots support.

[JohnnyZ]

Wow, Romney got DESTROYED. And after running TV ads and mailings and Lord knows what else!

Guess the well-informed people aren't falling for this phony.

[Antoninus]

Wow, Romney got DESTROYED. And after running TV ads and mailings and Lord knows what else! Guess the well-informed people aren't falling for this phony.

All the money in the world can only fool a small segment of the voters. This should be an object lesson for the Rudy-Tooters as well...

[william clark]

I have to wonder if that hasn't happened, and if it accounts for the lack of final numbers.

I don't know if the straw poll is the kind where numbers are posted while the voting is still taking place or not. If it is, I can well imagine a sizable number of votes coming from people who were resigned to voting for the "electable" candidate, but upon seing Hunter's numbers rising significantly and went with their heart instead.

[Antoninus]

And Hunter beat them both simply with REAL grassroots support.

Duncan has always been a grass-roots brawler. Couple that to a savvy media campaign, and Hunter looks scary-good.

Perhaps now some heads in the conservative media will start to turn...

[SaintDismas]

I dunno, is it just me or does he look like a young RR in that pic?

[pgyanke]

You two hit the Duncan Hunter supporters hard with the line that he is unelectable... therefore we have to line up behind a RINO because he can beat the Hildebeast. Someone on a thread yesterday (one of you?) also said that Rudy is walking away in the SC straw poll with Duncan nowhere on the board.

Can we please put the "electability" canard behind us and begin the real work of promoting a strong conservative? The only reason Rudy polls highly is because of name recognition... he doesn't do so well with the conservative base when his positions are evaluated. Like it or not, a GOP candidate can not win without the conservative base.

Rudy is the MSM annointed candidate because they can easily destroy him later. Duncan Hunter is the ignored candidate because he is solid. It's about time the GOP chooses its own candidate, not the three the MSM want us to have because they have been made celebrities.

[TommyDale]

From Fox News:

"With 81 of 92 precincts reporting, Giuliani garnered 158 votes. California Rep. Duncan Hunter was running in a close second with 152 votes and Arizona Sen. John McCain was third with 116 votes, according to county GOP officials."

Why is it taking so long on those other 11 precincts? It's not like we are counting falling chads.