Ping-a-ling. Got to meet Hunter in person. Nice, rugged guy.
Posted on 04/10/2007 1:12:01 PM PDT by Ultra Sonic 007
I was several blocks away from the Alabama GOP office. I had class from 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM, giving me roughly only an hour's worth of time to see him.
Ten minutes after the end of class - by the time I was at the office - I cursed my lack of a camera. I hoped someone would be able to pick up a slack.
Stepping inside, Duncan Hunter was still speaking to a crowd of about two dozen people.
My first impression was that he had lost quite a bit of weight. In older photographs, he had a bit of a bulge in his belly; not overweight, but not thin. Now he looked physically fit; not of a Schwarzenegger build, but someone I could imagine being a mountaineer or a lumberjack. Several people had brought cameras with them, so I'm hoping that someone will post pictures on an online website soon. Maybe at the Alabama GOP website.
The second thing I noticed were the people themselves. It was a small building, and about two dozen people were there. With the exception of a few, all of them were sharply-dressed. Most were businessmen or former politicians (one of them someone who ran for the state Senate; Jim was his first name, but I've already forgotten his last name, curse it all), and there was even a Marine who had served in Iraq in attendance. Some were old, some were a bit younger than Hunter, but they spoke of connections - one in particular, Dr. Hugh Cort, is a counterterrorism expert who's spoken with Fred Barnes, James Dobson, and has no love lost for the FBI's unwillingness to investigate mosques - and seem to have some kind of clout. I had the feeling that these were the kind of people who organize and gather meetings; basically, people who spread the word around. I could see this in action when Duncan Hunter was invited point-blank to a meeting of Alabama's largest group of Republican men in Huntsville (about 300 people, if I heard correctly). Combine this with Hunter's constant appearances on TV and radio, and his grassroots campaign is going smooth and steadily.
My third observation was that a number of those sharply-dressed men in attendance - with about ten of the people in attendance being women, for your information - were former military men. They spoke fondly to Congressman Hunter, and he even met an old friend. It says something when a Representative can be treated cordially as a former soldier on the other side of the country from where he is; it shows that military men can have a big backing. That was even one of the points that struck me. There's a lot of respect for former military men down here, particularly those who served faithful. There's a GREAT deal of respect for members of the 75th Army Rangers and the 173rd Airborne (both of which Hunter served with in Vietnam). So Hunter's military record - considering how hard he's been working on behalf of the military all these years - will be a big positive to military patriots in the South. I can kind of speak from personal experience on this matter; there are a lot of veterans from Vietnam, Korea, and World War II in my neck of the woods (the Birmingham area, downward to Alabaster). There's also a big military presence in Montgomery, seeing as how Maxwell Air Force Base and Gunther Air Force Base are based in the state capital. So that would be a potentially good record to run on in the South.
My fourth observation was the excitement. Speaking with some of the people there when Duncan Hunter was talking, I saw genuine excitement for this man. They are not satisfied with the "Big Three" (Rudy McRomney: Giuliani, McCain, and Romney), and Hunter is a guy whom they agreed with on all issues. One of the things I heard from Hunter that I wasn't aware of was this quote from, when asked about homosexual marriage. He supported the marriage bill to legally designate marriage as between a man and a woman, and he said the following:
"I think the most important institution in society is marriage, and it deserves to be protected."
This was just one more thing that sealed the deal for me, and then it went on to personal questions. Some of the things people asked about were things I already knew, so I spent some time talking with a few of the people in attendance. Hence came my fifth observation, and a rather interesting one.
I spoke with two people; both on the opposite ends of the chronological spectrum. The old man I spoke to first had some distaste for the Big Three. When I told him about Giuliani's positions on gun control and taxpayer-funded abortion (as of last week's debacle for the Rudy campaign), he expressed shock. The younger man there also expressed surprise at Giuliani's words about taxpayer-funded abortion. This is telling for a reason: it shows that a lot of Rudy's fame right now is on 9/11 afterglow alone, and it speaks of how - come debate time - the polls might change. As of now, it's all image and money. Not the best way to determine a candidate.
In any case, I only managed to ask him a question or two due to the other people there, so I picked one about taxes and reform. He brought the discussion back to discussion about China and trade deals, and he said - with some slight irritation - that the deals were stacked against us by other countries because we wouldn't be able to reform our tax system quickly and properly. He seemed to be referring to Democrats; probably because of how they never met a tax they didn't like. I got the impression that simplifying the tax code and getting rid of the legal gobbledygook that makes it so complex (in his words, "Everyone [in Congress] has their own two cents to add. Someone puts a balance here, but then someone else puts a counterbalance for that, and then you get a counterbalance for that, and so on until you have a big mess."), so that was nice. Tax reform seems to be something he's looking for.
I also asked him one of the questions that have been plaguing a lot of fiscal conservatives here: is he a protectionist? He said that he wasn't, that he wasn't interested in isolating our economy, but that he wants the free trade to actually be a two-way street. He said the current deals we have with countries like China need to be junked and reworked ("We committed one of the cardinal sins in the business world: we made a dumb deal.") due to the fact that (as some of you may know) that other countries in these free-trade agreements can rebate taxes for their manufacturers, while if we try to do the same, we get penalized for it under the agreement. It was around this time that I wondered who agreed to such a dumb idea. It was also around that time that I asked him about energy independence: he supports offshore drilling, drilling in ANWR, and nuclear power. That's a good omen.
He was jovial and very communicable (with some stuttering here and there) he spoke well and was concise. If there was one way I would describe him, it would be 'not quite Reaganesque in speech, but rugged, plainspoken, and a straight shooter.'
The meeting was cut short before I could ask him about CFR, as his flight to a South Carolina Pro-Life event would be leaving in about 50 minutes (and the airport was about 20 minutes away), so he had to rush out of there (and he'll be back in Montgomery tomorrow for a meeting with the Alabama Federation of Republican Women, and he'll be going back to South Carolina AGAIN on the 13th. Busy man!). There were a lot of pictures taken, and everyone was in good spirits. The cookies and sandwiches were good too. Some people were disappointedm that there was no media presence there, a la the Birmingham News or the like. I think I heard that the media declined to come, but I'm not 100% on it. Wouldn't be surprised though. Met some nice people, and it was around 1:30 when I finally left.
In any case, it was a nice meeting. A lot of the people who went there gave phone numbers to Hunter; he made some big supporters there that day. I learned a few new things, and I got a free lunch out of it.
But as I ran back for my 2:00 PM class, I cursed myself as I remembered that I forgot to give him a contribution of 20 dollars.
Oh well. Maybe next time.
Ping-a-ling. Got to meet Hunter in person. Nice, rugged guy.
Ping of interest.
Ping.
Most importantly, Duncan Hunter has the right answers for the problems we face. Other candidates will merely apply a variatioon of the ideas that got us into this mess in the first place.
Yeah I can definitely see it: he’s lost weight. He’s not as wide as in that picture there, and there’s no belly bulge to be found now.
Well done! You’ve reminded me that I need to send Hunter a “C” note—tax return just came in!
Thanks for this post Ultra Sonic 007. Well done.
That's why Rudie GulieAnnie does it so often, right?
Thanks, very reassuring. Bump.
“As of now, it’s all image and money. Not the best way to determine a candidate.”
How sadly true.
Bump for Hunter.
Thanks for the post and well done! Go Hunter!
Why?
"I think the most important institution in society is marriage, and it deserves to be protected."
I will vote for Hunter.
If the GOP runs Rudy, I’ll write in Hunter.
I agree with Hunter.
bump
Did you ask if he stands by his support for No Child Left Behind and other big government measures such as the Medicare Prescription subsidy?
Didn’t get the chance.
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