Posted on 10/23/2007 7:48:38 AM PDT by pissant
WASHINGTON ---- He doesn't draw throngs like Barack Obama or Rudy Giuliani, but U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter has admirers in his longshot bid for the presidency.
The El Cajon lawmaker, who hasn't been able to move his campaign from the bottom tier of GOP candidates, met one of those fans in his Capitol Hill office recently.
"I really admire you and I'm glad you're running," Joe Sangiorgio, a George Washington University political science student and congressional intern, said while getting his picture taken with his choice for president. "I plan to vote for you, and I would give your campaign $50 million if I could."
Sangiorgio must not be paying much attention to the polls or standings in the race for campaign cash: Hunter is polling no more than 3 percent outside California and has raised a relative pauper's sum of less than $2 million.
Despite those numbers, the congressman told the North County Times earlier this month that he has no thoughts of dropping out.
Hunter also reflected on his record in Congress during the last 26 years, saying he is proud of his efforts on behalf of the military and defense industries, and that he believes large numbers of U.S. troops would leave Iraq next year.
Tough odds
Hunter's odds of getting elected president are pegged at 200-1 in Las Vegas, and his chances of raising anywhere near $50 million that Sangiorgio wished for, or suddenly winning favor among a large portion of the electorate, are seen by most observers as slim and none.
Despite that, the affable Hunter has nothing to lose by staying in the race, said Jack Pitney, a political science professor at Claremont McKenna College who specializes in national politics.
"There's really no reason for him to withdraw yet," Pitney said last week. "He gets to take part in national debates standing next to the party's eventual nominee. This could be his last chance for national television exposure, so why give it up?
"He's retiring from Congress, where his party is now in the minority, so staying in and taking part in the primaries is all gain and no pain."
The low numbers Hunter has been getting don't appear to bother the folksy politician, whose 52nd Congressional District includes parts of Poway and Ramona. The former chairman and now-ranking Republican on the House Armed Services Committee claimed he's had no thoughts of abandoning the effort and suggested surprise at even being asked the question.
"I'm not afraid of an election," he said. "To get out before the first numbers come in doesn't make any sense."
In debates, Hunter speaks forcefully about his desire to protect American jobs, and the needs to improve border security and maintain a strong military.
As the major candidates raise many millions to pay for media buys and dozens of political operatives, Hunter's Oct. 15 campaign finance report shows he has raised a paltry $1.7 million with only $132,741 in available cash. That compares with another bottom-tier candidate, U.S. Sen. Sam Brownback, who dropped out of the race Friday despite having raised more than twice as much as Hunter.
"We don't have a bunch of consultants that we have to pay," Hunter said as he munched on a turkey sandwich during a break in a series of votes taking place on the House floor. "We run a highly efficient operation."
'Great effect'
Rather than spend his campaign cash on media buys and staff, Hunter gets his message out through the "free media" at presidential debates and as a frequent guest on conservative radio and television. He travels to campaign events by commercial airliner, often relying on volunteers or a single paid staffer to shuttle him around once he's on the ground.
And despite only winning a couple of straw polls, the hawkish conservative will look you straight in the eye and say he is in to win.
"The real contest doesn't start until the January primaries, and I intend to do well in those elections," he said during a conversation in his congressional office, a large room adorned with numerous mementos and pictures of Hunter and his supporters during his time in office.
Hunter said he believes he has influenced the debate, pointing to his criticism of U.S. trade policy with China, which he says gives the Asian giant an unfair advantage over American manufacturers. He also claims to be the first to call for pre-emptive military action against Iran if it's shown that country is near production of an atomic weapon.
The leading GOP candidates have followed suit on Iran, building a fence along the majority of the border with Mexico and improving the trade and economic climate for U.S. manufacturers to preserve American jobs, he said.
"I think we're having a great effect. I'm out there every day trying to do the best I can to communicate my ideas and see if we can't draw a crowd."
But the crowds haven't responded in the way he had hoped. Nonetheless, he said plans to stay around after the first round of primaries and caucuses.
How long after that?
"If you get to the point where you're not getting any numbers at all and can't possibly recover, you don't stay in just for symbolic reasons," he said.
Congressional career
As he wraps up the penultimate year of his congressional career, Hunter said he will always be proud of his relationship with the military.
"The Armed Services Committee is one where you can really get things done," said the Vietnam War veteran, who was the panel's chairman until this year. "I was able to help rebuild the military during the Reagan era and work through the start of the missile defense system and the Contra wars."
In recent months, he has helped speed the development of new mine-resistant armored personnel carriers and increase funding and attention on efforts to defeat roadside bombs.
"We're in a new era of terrorists with technology and we've got to be able to respond. You take the best positions you can and try every day to do something good for this country.
"It's a long war, and there's not going to be any surrender ceremony like we saw on deck of the battleship USS Missouri at the end of World War II."
Despite some accusations of ties to men convicted or charged in the scandal of his friend and former U.S. Rep. Randy Cunningham, that relationship has not dogged Hunter on the campaign trail. Beyond a defense attorney's failed effort to subpoena him and other lawmakers, Hunter's name has not surfaced in any of the investigations linked to the now-imprisoned Cunningham.
When Hunter leaves Congress, his replacement could be his son, Duncan Duane Hunter, a U.S. Marine now serving in Afghanistan. The younger Hunter will face at least two other GOP challengers during the primary in his bid to keep a Hunter hold on the 52nd District and the family philosophy a part of California's congressional delegation.
Iraq and beyond
Somewhat surprisingly, Hunter is opposed to seeing the Marine Corps leave Iraq and assume major combat responsibility in Afghanistan, which Marine Commandant Gen. James Conway is advocating.
Hunter said he would rather see the 25,000 Marines come home from Iraq, as that country's fledgling army assumes responsibility for security with quick reaction forces called in if needed.
"Al-Qaida has been defeated on the battlefield in Anbar because of the hard work of the Marines," he said. "I would like to see the Marines rotate out of Iraq, and Afghanistan should be a place where our NATO allies really start participating in a more robust manner."
He predicted that the number of U.S. troops in Iraq next year will be far lower than the current 160,000. Putting greater pressure on the Iraqis to provide their own security could lead to substantial withdrawal of U.S. troops in the coming months, he said.
"The Iraq army can take over a lot faster than many people think," he said.
BTTT!!!!!!!!
Funny that he isn’t getting more traction help from the GOP leadership. Well, ok... maybe not “funny”. Maybe “disgusting” is a better word.
I wish that translated into a DH victory in the primary, but I still think his chances of winning now are slim and none.
Wish it was different but there it is.
Duncan Hunter didn’t kite. He was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing. He utilized the overdraft protection that came with the account but he didn’t float loans. Otherwise, he would have been charged.
What is the candidate of your choices view on China’s launch of the long march tomorrow?
The GOP “leadership” and their lap dogs are dedicated to electing RINOs so they can continue to lower the bar for the democrats to jump over.
Ah-hem! Your alzheimer’s is showing, Rita! Instead of dancing like the Taliban, you should be throwing dirt on your head and weeping no end.
With the mercy ship of Duncan Hunter slipping below the surface, the country will give its death rattle as it becomes once again Clinton Country.
Rosiland Russell vs. Rita Hayworth WOOHOO!!
I found this here on FreeRepublic also:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1776934/posts?page=30#30
Los Angeles Times
September 11, 1992, Friday, San Diego County Edition
REP. HUNTER IS CLEARED IN HOUSE BANK SCANDAL
BYLINE: By JAMES BORNEMEIER, TIMES STAFF WRITER
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 1; Column 2; Metro Desk
LENGTH: 544 words
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Coronado) learned Thursday that he was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing involving his hundreds of overdrafts at the House Bank.
For Hunter, the news came an agonizing day and a half after dozens of other congressmen received identical letters from Malcolm R. Wilkey, a special counsel appointed to investigate the bank scandal.
The letter exonerates Hunter with the phrase, “I have concluded that there is no basis for pursuing a further inquiry regarding possible criminal violations concerning your account.”
Receipt of the three-paragraph missive, on stationery of the Office of the Attorney General, brings an official close to a painful episode for the six-term congressman. An outspoken conservative who ranks fifth in the House Republican leadership, Hunter has generally avoided major public blunders during his 12 years in office.
But word of the 399 overdrafts set his political world spinning.
When the House Bank scandal broke last fall, Hunter said, “Nobody has ever had a Duncan Hunter check returned for insufficient funds.” The statement was interpreted as a curt denial, but turned out to be an accurate — and carefully worded — description of how the loosely run bank worked. It routinely covered overdrawn accounts with other members’ funds.
Hunter was right: Nobody had lost any money — and the bank had operated that way for decades.
But before the House held a dramatic floor vote on disclosing the names of all members who had had overdrafts, Hunter admitted that he routinely wrote checks without sufficient funds at the House Bank — and at his California account at the Bank of Coronado.
As a self-described “industrial strength” overdrafter, Hunter paid extra for protection against bounced checks in Coronado.
To justify his overdrafts at the House Bank, Hunter pointed to a scholarship fund he had set up in 1985 to aid needy district students. Hunter said the fund, to which he has donated more than $12,000, was his way of paying for congressional “perks,” including the House Bank’s de facto overdraft protection.
The scholarship fund payments brought him into “moral balance” on the issue, Hunter said at the time.
The rationale was widely regarded as imaginative — and unconvincing.
At first, Hunter was unapologetic, arguing that the House banking rules were being changed retroactively. And he was prepared to vote against full disclosure of all overdrafters — until a last-minute phone conversation with his father convinced him otherwise.
Back in California to face voters, Hunter toured his district and set up a card table with his checks spread out for constituents to examine.
Angry voters laid into him about the checks, but also complained bitterly about the state of the region’s economy.
Hunter surprised his aides during a tour stop in El Centro by promising to turn back half his congressional pay until the unemployment rate in his district declines two points.
Using a formula that blended San Diego and Imperial County unemployment figures for April, the base rate was pegged at 9.8%.
It now stands at 11.2%.
He also announced that he will pay for his congressional perks, including medical care, a health club and discount meals, at commercial rates.
I’m saying there are people who do far worse things which never go into the public eye, and even if they do it takes a while. You’re completely dismissing a guy who isn’t even in trouble.
The choice is clear.
Hunter all the way.
Too bad we can’t turn that “bar” into an electric fence.
Not so, the people who were charged in relation to this incident were charged with felonies like making false statements and bribery and conspiracy, in other words the cover up is always worse than the crime. This is getting tedious though so I'm going to move on, but just remember 399 overdrafts for $129,000 in a 12 year period means an average of 2.7 overdrafts a month totaling $10,750 a year on average for 12 years. I wouldn't trust my money with someone as irresponsible as that.
It’s funny, in a sad kinda way. The fact that there are many “conservatives” that do not want Hunter’s ascendancy tells me there are many fake conservatives.
***Bears repeating. B4DH.
Alrighty then, I did understand you correctly. Moral relativism to save the day.
http://mfile.akamai.com/5020/wma/rushlimb.download.akamai.com/5020/New/Capital%20Hill%20Bank.asx
http://mfile.akamai.com/5020/wma/rushlimb.download.akamai.com/5020/New/Capital%20Hill%20PO.asx
So you are insinuating that Duncan Hunter covered up taking money? He disclosed his checks written. What wasn’t accounted for?
You folks are so out of touch with reality. NO ONE and I mean NO ONE will even consider Hunter as their VP. You’ve got to be kidding me, and are delusional if you really believe that.
ZERO VP chances. Are FReepers that whacky that you think he’ll even be on anyone’s short list???
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