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.”
DH Ping
His legacy will be after he is president. :o)
How un-Presidential. ....which is the highest compliment.
He’s ready to rise. Now Huck, get the hell out of the way!
And yet he has.
His children.
Thanks for the ping. B4DH.
.
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Why the smart money is on Duncan Hunter
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1926032/posts
He’s just begun to fight
Indeed! Hunter is the only way to go. What Conservative can find a flaw in his positions?
...
I don’t know Duncan D, but I have talked to Sam a number of times. A fine fellow.
He’s got his warts. Voted for NCLB and prescription drugs. But overall, he’s a rock.
8 more years.
That is my prayer for America.
A Marine just back from his third tour in combat!
That tells me a great deal about the man!
If I had the know-how, I’d try brainstorming some ideas to get him moving up in polls and the like.
Yep. I’m sure he will be on FR before long.
Believe me, we are trying. His biggest problem is lack of funds to advertise, but he also is on one of the busiest committees in Congress, the Armed Services Committee, so he has been spending the vast majority of his time working.
Hunter in 2008. No-vote in 2012 and 2016.
Hillary said long ago and repeatedly since then that she wouldn’t run in 2000 or 2004 but that she would run in 2008. There’s a time sharing deal between the parties. Both are on the left against morality, and both are anti-defense for the sake of oil and money.
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