Posted on 01/13/2008 8:40:43 AM PST by pissant
EAST COUNTY – Even in East County, where they still love Rep. Duncan Hunter, voters are a bit mystified about why he's hanging onto his unlikely quest for the presidency.
With the conservative Republican coming in last place with less than 1 percent of the vote in Iowa and New Hampshire, the prospects of his moving into the White House appear nearly impossible.
Some wonder whether he's running to highlight national defense and border security – his steadfast issues as a congressman – or in hopes of getting a job in a Republican administration.
In an interview while campaigning in Michigan last week, Hunter said he has no plans to drop out of what has become a wide-open race for the Republican candidacy.
“It's easy to quit. It's hard to win,” Hunter said. “We're moving ahead full-throttle.”
Beth Taormini, who owns a bookstore in Hunter's hometown of Alpine, said she has supported Hunter for Congress, but isn't sure who she'll vote for in California's presidential primary Feb. 5. She hasn't heard much about Hunter in campaign coverage and doubts he can win.
“But I wonder whether that's important to him?” she said.
Hunter's supporters bemoan that the national media has largely ignored his campaign in favor of Republican front-runners Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee.
“If the rest of the country knew him as well as we did, he'd have a fighting chance,” said Matt Schumsky, a Republican party activist who lives in Alpine.
Elected in 1980, Hunter has since represented the 52nd Congressional District, which cuts a wide diagonal swath from Miramar Marine Corps Air Station to the county's northeastern corner. He has usually beena shoo-in for re-election, often getting two-thirds of the vote or more.
But he has struggled for attention the past year on the presidential campaign trail, and he's raised only $1.9 million, tens of millions of dollars less than the front-runners.
Gary Jacobson, a political science professor at the University of California San Diego, said Hunter hasn't attracted notice because he isn't nationally well-known.
“He starts out totally obscure to most of the world,” Jacobson said. “Hunter is not an especially charismatic character. He doesn't have the charm of a Huckabee. He doesn't play bass in a rock 'n' roll band.”
Hunter's biggest victories so far were in Wyoming, where he won one of 12 delegates in the state caucuses, and in Nevada, where he was endorsed by the state's Republican Assembly.
When Hunter's campaign issued a press release Monday morning saying he had a major announcement, several news organizations predicted he was dropping out of the race. Instead, Hunter used the press conference to complain about being excluded from the most recent presidential debates.
Hunter's family physician, Paul Ver Hoeve of El Cajon, said his relatives in New Jersey hadn't heard of Hunter.
“When I mentioned Hunter's name, they said, 'Who?' ” Ver Hoeve said.
Ver Hoeve said Hunter is running to spread his conservative message.
“He loves his country,” Ver Hoeve said. “He's kind of carrying on the Reagan ideal.”
Signs of support for Hunter's presidential campaign are rare in East County, although one of his neighbors near his home on Peutz Valley Road has a 6-foot-high “Hunter for President” sign in his front yard.
Among Hunter's most fervent supporters are two other neighbors, Lu Ann Slay, 54, and her husband, Ed Roczey, 67. They've spent the past eight months traveling to 23 states to hold up Hunter banners along highways and cheer at his campaign events.
Slay said she admires Hunter and wants to spread the word about him to others.
“I feel like I'm going to war, except I don't have a uniform,” she said. “I feel like I'm fighting for something with a purpose.”
At El Cajon's Parkway Plaza, 67-year-old retiree Burley Dodson said he is supporting Fred Thompson, another struggling Republican candidate, because he feels Thompson is more personable than Hunter.
Dodson said he has little interest in the issues that Hunter has focused on.
“The main thing that concerns me is the economy right here – the food that I buy, the gas that I buy,” he said.
Hunter decided not to seek re-election to his congressional seat as he focused on the presidential bid. His son, Duncan D. Hunter, is among the candidates running for the seat.
Hunter last week denied a persistent rumor that his son is serving only as a placeholder candidate so that he can re-enter the race for his seat. “It's not true,” Hunter said. “You've got my word on that.”
Former La Mesa councilman Barry Jantz, who follows local politics in a Republican blog, said Hunter might be seeking an administration post if a Republican is elected president.
“I can't think of anyone better qualified to be defense secretary or national security adviser,” Jantz said.
I called the NH GOP and thanked them profusely for standing on principle and for what is right.
The fact of the matter is, it is absolutely disgraceful that the RNC and EVERY republican organization did not stand up and demand that all the candidates be heard or none of them would be. Imagine the loss in revenue for Fraud News.
It is stunning that the other candidates never opened their mouths...save for Dennis Kucinich. When you have the most raving moonbat of them all defending and supporting you when no one in your own party does, that is when you know the party and the country are in grave danger.
Great news!!!
Well, since we are all in the same boat.....
wanna be friends??? ;*)
“They crack me up. I don’t know whether to laugh, cry or pull my hair out!”
I’ve tried all three. Doesn’t help.
“aggghhh I’m getting sick to death of politics”
Everyone I know tells me I’m crazy to bother or care. Maybe they’re right.
Another fabulous production by RasterMaster TV!
“Well, since we are all in the same boat.....
wanna be friends??? ;*)”
lol..Well, I’ll tell you what sweetie, I thank goodness every day for the good Americans like you that I’ve met working for a fine candidate, Duncan Hunter.
No regrets. I hope there isn’t an issue down the line that divides us. Wishful thinking, huh?
Your letter is very well constructed. If anyone will be hauling Hunter out of the cheap seats it will be the Christian Right. Well done.
No Class.
Maybe the mindset is one of a great American!?
Perhaps the mindset is one of a calling greater than oneself!?
Just maybe it is the mindset that still believes in the strength and courage of the American people and their ability to do what is right.
Then again, it could simply be a demonstration proving the corrupt election/party system we have devolved into where all things can be bought...even the presidency.
LOL!
Send this with your future letters:
http://timereallymatters.com/mount-soledad/dh-mount-soledad-print.png
I don’t have the time now, but will add to your “charismatic” posts. Form one of the debates before Iowa (9 or 10) and Hunter was asked what he would do to improve the image of America abroad:
I won’t even try to quote it - but he talked about how our brave servicemen and women have helped Afghanistan and Iraq, how our ships helped in the aftermath of the tsunami, etc. and ended up with “I will never apologize for the United States of America.”
Great question for the RNC!
Sorry. I don’t know how to title the link. Yall can fix it if you want.
IMHO, the most useful direction would be to focus upon Christian resources. Being internally focused, they are pretty unplugged from other venues. However, once one gains access, the word spreads like wildfire. That is what fired Huck up. There are may national level organizations that could be utilized to Hunter's advantage.
Bible Study Fellowship, as an example. A single member with friends and relatives in other cities also in the fellowship could singlehandedly start a chain reaction, growing across fellowship groups across the nation, and into individual churches.
Christian talk shows in Christian radio venues would be another access point.
Christian online forums would be another really good access point, if any of y'all have long standing accounts with any of them...
Even a simple email can be absolutely viral in Christian circles, providing it is worded well.
The trick is in the doing- Politics are frowned upon generally in Christian circles, unless there is a direct reason, salient to the discussion at hand. Hard handed "Get out the vote" is probably frowned upon, and with Huck being so popular, one stands the chance of being marked as an interloper. It needs to be handled very carefully.
I thought personable meant pleasant in appearance and personality? Maybe Burley is crushin’ on Fred. As they say, “Love is blind” and blind seems to fit Burley very well.
I certainly hope it is not wishful thinking! ;*)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
