Duncan Hunter on the Issues
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Posted on 01/24/2007 8:57:53 AM PST by Antoninus
California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter will formally announce his candidacy for president Thursday — less than two weeks after he took the first official step by filing paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to establish a presidential campaign “exploratory” committee.
According to a statement released Tuesday, Hunter will make his announcement at the Marriott Renaissance Park hotel in the South Carolina city of Spartanburg — located in the state’s overwhelmingly Republican northwestern region. The breakfast event is titled “America: The Strength of Freedom,” which also is Hunter’s campaign slogan.
“I will speak about a new American sunrise of opportunity, faith and freedom for the citizens of our great nation,” said Hunter.
The choice of South Carolina as the venue symbolizes the strategy Hunter is using, as he seeks to extend beyond his very limited political base in the San Diego-area 52nd Congressional District and overcome a big deficit in national name identification.
The 58-year-old Hunter, a 14-term incumbent who chaired the Armed Services Committee prior to the Democrats’ House takeover and now is its ranking member, is campaigning both on his hawkish views on defense issues and his equally staunch conservatism on financial and social issues.
In order to gain any traction in the presidential race, he must quickly make an impression on voters in places such as strongly conservative-leaning South Carolina, which in recent years has emerged as a Republican Party stronghold.
South Carolina has several military bases, so Hunter may at least get a hearing from voters there because of his background on national security issues. He is one of the staunchest defenders of the Bush administration’s policies in the Iraq war.
Hunter, who has served on the Armed Services Committee since he was elected to Congress in 1980, has a personal background of military service as a member of the Army from 1969 to 1971. He received a Bronze Star for participating in 25 helicopter combat assaults during the war in Vietnam.
In his release, Hunter touted his experience as well as his political leanings, stating that he is “considered by many to be the most conservative Republican in the presidential race.”
Along with his defense posture, Hunter is a fervent opponent of illegal immigration, and reaffirmed his socially conservative platform Monday on the anniversary of the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.
Hunter, according to the Associated Press, told participants of the March for Life anti-abortion rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.: “If we have a judicial applicant, a judicial nominee who can look at a sonogram of an unborn child and not see the value of human life ... if I should become president of the United States, he will not receive a judicial appointment.”
Hunter, though, faces strong competition for the conservative vote from the only other Republican officeholder who is an official presidential candidate: Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, who received a 100 percent score from The American Conservative Union in 2005. The other official candidate, attorney John Cox of Illinois, is emphasizing his own socially conservative stances.
Among others who have set up presidential exploratory committees or are considering bids, there are social conservatives — such as Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo and former Virginia Gov. James S. Gilmore III — who would be directing appeals to that wing of the Republican electorate.
Hunter enters relatively unknown outside defense-related circles. Having never run for office on a larger stage than his congressional district, he will likely find fundraising a significant challenge.
That certainly will not be the case for prospective front-running candidates such as Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, nationally known figures who have formed exploratory committees and currently lead the GOP field in national polls.
Last week, though, Hunter took a swipe at McCain by releasing a straw poll taken in Arizona’s Maricopa County (Phoenix), in which Hunter finished first and the homestate senator ran fourth. Though Republicans in the state’s most populous county called the results surprising, McCain’s maverick tendencies have angered members of his party in the past.
Good
Pinging some of the more recent arrivals...
Where is Brownback on the war and on the reinforcements to Iraq? I received a fund-raising e-mail from his campaign yesterday and any mention of that topic was absent....
This guy needs to get net savvy fast. Get some Youtube and Google videos out there. Take as much advantage of the internet as possible.
LOL!
He's against the reinforcements. He is also very pro-illegal immigration. I don't think he gives Hunter any competition at all.
Awesome news!
I am not yet an American citizen, but if I could vote in 2008 this would be my man!
There was an article by some professor on Brownback yesterday. It was very unflattering and gave some details of his votes and policies.
It apparently has been pulled.
Descendant of a long line of Hunters.
He's against the reinforcements. He is also very pro-illegal immigration. I don't think he gives Hunter any competition at all.
Unfortunately, he's sucking some of the conservative support of people who don't know this.
Welcome home. Good luck with obtaining your citizenship.
It is unfortunate that a candidate must not only say and do the right kinds of things, but these days he or she must look and sound good doing it.
I like what I've read about DH, but I want to see and hear him myself before deciding to back him.
Now that IS funny!
Bump
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