You raise a question. How do we “increase” Duncan Hunter’s name recognition? I post his name to most threads that it’s appropriate, I always say nice things about him, I speak well of him on other forums.
We can all write letters to the editors to help get his name out there, assuming anybody reads a paper, much less letters in the paper.
We can’t get him on the news. We can’t buy him ads. We can send him money, but most of us here don’t have enough money to make that big a diference (Hunter took in a little over a half million, while Romney took 23 million).
We can go door-to-door, but the average person now doesn’t care, doesn’t want to be bothered at home for an election that is over a year and a half away. We can circulate his stuff at our republican committeee meetings, or get his organization to show up and talk (I recommend that for all candidates — our county republican committee has open invitations to all republican candidates for office to come talk about their candidate).
But all of this is small stuff. We could get him another percent or two just by our own work. We could “picket” in Washington DC with his name on our pickets — that might get him a little more news.
But it is up to Duncan Hunter to get people to notice him. Seriously, if Duncan can’t get over 1% in the polls, I blame him, and think it raises questions about his ability to run for and be President. A candidate has to be able to lead, and part of leading is to be able to make yourself the important issue, to force people to pay attention to you.
Where was Duncan Hunter on Tuesday after the VT shootings, giving HIS condolences and showing he wouldn’t use the issue for his own gain? There were stories about other candidates stopping their campaign activities, but even here at FR I saw no thread posting an announcement from Duncan that he was stopping HIS daily activities. Maybe he didn’t HAVE any to stop?
I’m mad at “my” candidate Mitt Romney as well, but at least I see him out there trying to make news, inserting himself in the debates of the day, sometimes poorly, sometimes brilliantly, but always getting a few seconds on the news.
Maybe Duncan should have had a visible press conference thursday denouncing Jim Moran for his using the VT tragedy to push gun control. Duncan could have come to Northern Virgina into Moran’s home district. The news media would have attacked him for it, maybe excoriated him. The liberal talk shows would have lambasted him. Rosie might have called him names on the view.
In other words, we would have had a weekened of “Duncan Hunter”. At this point, any publicity (other than an FBI investigation) would be a godsend for Duncan.
But it is up to Duncan Hunter to get people to notice him. Seriously, if Duncan can’t get over 1% in the polls, I blame him, and think it raises questions about his ability to run for and be President.
***Wasn’t John Kerry at about 4-5% in the polls at about the same time, and there were really only 2 in the race? Hunter has time, and the debates will be his chance. Part of his problem is that his humility seems to cause him to forego self-promotion behavior. Duncan has won some strong indicators such as the straw polls in Arizona (beat McCain in his own back yard) and came within a statistical 3-2ay dead heat in Spartanburg, did well recently in Iowa. He may not yet translate into percentages in media polls nationally, but he wins when there is a real poll afoot. I’m going to ping his son, Sam Hunter, to see if he has anything to say here to rally the troups and help us get out the name recognition. In this latest FR storm,
Duncan Hunter’s house is standing on solid conservative bedrock and Rudy Giuliani’s house is slipping away into the sands.
A candidate has to be able to lead, and part of leading is to be able to make yourself the important issue, to force people to pay attention to you.
***This area is not my particular forte’, so I choose not to comment on it. I simply don’t know how much that conveys the truth of the matter.
Where was Duncan Hunter on Tuesday after the VT shootings, giving HIS condolences and showing he wouldn’t use the issue for his own gain?
***That would be doing EXACTLY what we accuse others of doing wrong in this whole debacle.
Maybe Duncan should have had a visible press conference thursday denouncing Jim Moran for his using the VT tragedy to push gun control.
***Yes, I agree that would probably be a wise use of Duncan Hunter’s time. What do you think, Sam?