Posted on 12/04/2007 5:50:55 PM PST by pissant
Looking to retire after 27 years on the House Armed Services Committee, including two as chairman, Rep. Duncan Hunter isn’t eager to talk about the “L-word.”
“I don’t care about leaving a legacy,” the California Republican said in an interview. “‘You do the best you can for the country every day’ — that’s my motto.”
The committee’s top Republican, Hunter is retiring at the end of his 14th term, deciding to focus on his bid for the Republican presidential nomination rather than mounting a reelection campaign to the House.
Yet his legacy may very well live on with his son, Duncan D. Hunter, a Marine who served in both Iraq and Afghanistan and is now running to succeed him.
And the son has not been shy about offering his father some advice now and then.
In April 2004, while the congressman was in the middle of a committee hearing in Washington, he received a satellite phone call from his son in the midst of the siege of Fallujah, not so subtly asking his father why his unit was being ordered to stop attacking when it had the insurgents on the run.
“I ended up with this young Marine officer cussing me out on a cell phone,” Hunter recalls with a laugh.
Within minutes, the congressman was on the phone with top Pentagon brass, relaying his son’s message and demanding answers.
Hunter’s family has deep military roots. His father served in World War II, and he was an Army Ranger in Vietnam, earning a Bronze Star.
Away from the committee, the past year has been a tumultuous one for the congressman, as his presidential bid has failed to surge, leaving him an asterisk in the polls.
Hunter is particularly stung by criticism from Democrats that he did not conduct tough enough oversight of the Iraq war while he was committee chairman, citing efforts to bolster protections against improvised explosive devices and to provide “jammers” to scramble the triggers insurgents were using to set off roadside bombs.
“We produced 10,000 portable jammers and moved them out to the battlefield — from a concept to the field — in just 70 days,” he said.
In fact, Hunter’s zeal to come up with protective body armor to defend against improvised explosive devices earned him the derisive nickname “SpongeBob HunterPants” after a military staffer fabricated a picture of Hunter wearing the bulky contraption, drawing comparisons to the famous children’s television character, according to an account in The Washington Post.
When he was in charge, Hunter said, “this committee moved up the production of armored Humvees by seven months” after he took his case directly to the steel mills that manufactured the plating.
Despite their differing views on the war, Hunter says he and the committee chairman, Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), are the “best of friends” and maintain a positive working relationship.
“We arm-wrestle on issues that take on a political edge,” Hunter said, “but we find a great deal of common cause.”
Though his days on the committee are numbered, Hunter still has at least one more fight left, defending against what he sees as increasing military threats from China, which is bolstering its military capabilities as American manufacturing increasingly moves offshore.
While the theme fits nicely with his presidential campaign promise to defend against the loss of manufacturing jobs overseas, Hunter said he sees military implications.
“We have got to look at the horizon carefully,” he said, warning that military technology can be compromised when companies move production offshore.
Hunter said he would like to see next year’s Defense Authorization Bill tackle the China issues, especially undersea capability, electronic warfare and the ability to strike deep behind enemy lines.
Hunter has requested a meeting with President Bush and other top lawmakers to discuss the Chinese threat but has yet to hear back from the White House.
And after nearly three decades of tackling military issues on Capitol Hill, Hunter has some advice for his “hard-charging” son as he campaigns to succeed him in the House.
“He is going to leave one battlefield and go to the next,” the congressman said. “I am firing from all sides myself right now.”
Perfect!
It's DUNCAN TIME!
Simply, the best.
Well, despite my belief that the GOP is almost always better than the demonrats, I gotta tell you that this country can ill afford a RINO or a dem this time. China is looming on the horizon, Russia is becoming more bellicose with each passing week, the leftist in S. America are making deals with both, the global warming facade needs to be stopped in its tracks, and deportations need to be started in earnest to restore the “currency of American law”. In addition, we need to gut a large number of useless bureaucracies and restore the industrial might of our nation. And we need a leader that knows who is unfazed by leftist and moderates criticism and will give it back twice as good as he gets.
Obvious choice, in my book.
Well, he can help accelerate their decline by pointing out more of the foibles of the Kennedy Wing of the party.
Hunter is fearless. He knows that China needs us more than we need them. Everyone else is scared sh*tless of them.
Indeed, it is obvious for those who choose to think it thru.
Amen, Annie
Well, let’s all work to see that he will be on that ballot!!
D3 for Prez, 2048!
Laura and Ann and Phyllis Schlafly and Michelle need to band together and give him a ringing, collective endorsement.
LOL. Fantastic
...agreed.
Nice Graphic!
At this point in time he would get my vote on a primary ballot.
At this time I will refuse to vote for "Rooty", "McNumb-nuts" or Mitt in the general election (voting instead - write in candidate if necessary - against those candidates and for whatever U.S. Constitution Party member candidate exists).
By so doing I'd vote "against" all political ideologies that I believe are not for the very philosophical ideals tht I believe to be fundamental to the continued existance of the Republic. In so doing I don't compromise my political position, and whatever results may bear true next November election will not be on my shoulders; the country receives what it deserves (the democratically elected government one recieves is the one that is deserved).
Well said, When I have a minute of down time I am doing something to get Hunter elected. That said, it is certainly hard to keep charging hard when you feel you are continually fighting an uphill battle.
In the time of “Run, Fred, Run” it was clear the resources were being withheld till he announced one way or the other. I threw up a few caution flags and maintained that we should, support the Conservative we have already and not be so eager to put all our eggs in one basket. The Thompson campaign had all a campaign could ever dream of having and then some. I have watched him (them) squander it all. Whether it is proud arrogance or total lack of zeal, I haven’t a clue. When he announced, the nomination was his for the taking and we all watched this extraordinary opportunity squandered.
I think Fred will be out by South Carolina. He is behind Romney And Rudy there right now, it is very close. That is the South and if he loses there, he is done. I think he will quit. Huckabee’s 15 seconds of pandering and apologetics will be up by then as well. So, by the time the primary finally rolls around in my state I will have the choice of Rudy or Romney. If that is my choice, I totally agree with you; I could more enthusiastically write-in someone or just stay at home. As you so rightly pointed out; The GOP and its electorate created this mess, we didn’t.
Yes, we get what we deserve. And if the GOP continues to drift left, we are in a world of trouble.
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