Conservatives want more candidates from stage right (i.e. We need Duncan Hunter NOW)

Dalla Morning News ^ | February 1, 2007 | Carl Leubsdorf

[GulfBreeze]

Republican conservatives are unhappy... don't have a presidential candidate.

...they don't see a "real" conservative in the top tier of the GOP field.

...may have to choose between a front-runner who professes fealty to conservative causes but whose devotion may be suspect or a lesser-known ...

The disquiet stems largely from polls showing the two front-runners ...John McCain of Arizona ... Rudy Giuliani, who supports abortion rights, gun control and gay marriage.

The fastest-rising contender ...Mitt Romney, ... once campaigned as a backer of abortion rights and urged a bigger role for gays and lesbians in the GOP.

In a column last month ... Republican pollster David Hill dismissed .. McCain and Romney candidacies ...

...that doesn't mean there is no GOP aspirant with a record that social conservatives could readily support. Sen. Sam Brownback... Mike Huckabee... James Gilmore... Duncan Hunter of California and Tom Tancredo of Colorado, are also wooing the right.

... Mr. Hill, who seemed mainly concerned with questioning the motivations of Mr. McCain and Mr. Romney. Both "possess some conservative credentials," he conceded, but "neither of them seems particularly interested in being the 'real' conservative."

"They are already moving to the center to win the general election, and this could be their undoing if a genuine conservative enters the fray,"...

The conservative dilemma is hardly a new one. Since Barry Goldwater's 1964 candidacy, the most conservative contenders – from Phil Crane in 1980 to Gary Bauer in 2000 – have usually lost the GOP nomination to more broadly acceptable candidates.

But one thing is clear: Republicans have tended to do better with nominees like Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, who drew the enthusiastic support of conservatives, than with those who attracted less fervent backing, like Gerald Ford, the elder George Bush and Bob Dole.

...

[napscoordinator]

Do we really want a President who can't afford a haircut that he has to bounce a check??? Really??????

[Antoninus]

And it wasn't an overdraft; it was check kiting.

So in your opinion, Hunter should go to jail. Is that what you're saying? Or does the fact that he was cleared of any wrong-doing still tar him in your opinion.

[Antoninus]

There are 5-6 people in the country who can pull that off. Rudy,Romney,McCaine, Hillary and maybe Obama, Colin Powell,Edwards.

I think folks like you who think they've already got everything figured out are in for some rude awakenings before February 2008....

[Howlin]

Boy, you people just love to put words in people's mouths, don't you?

They were all "cleared." FGS, they cleared themselves.

It was check kiting, plain and simple.

[blackie]

I'm with you ~ Duncan Hunter is the man!!

[Calpernia]

Go Hunter bump

[Antoninus]

They were all "cleared." FGS, they cleared themselves. It was check kiting, plain and simple.

They were ALL cleared because it wasn't against the law. The House Bank was set up as a perk for the members and they all had overdraft protection. As Hunter said, no one got a check from him that wasn't honored.

When the rules changed due to public outcry (and rightly so), Hunter stopped using the overdraft and made good.

To call a guy a crook because he took advantage of a widely used Congressional "perk" that existed decades before he was in office? Please. Any stick to beat a horse.

[ZULU]

The Giulianistas are out in force in this forum.

I guess Hunter poses a serious threat to the gal/guy from New York City.

[MayflowerMadam]

Fred Dalton Thompson.

[GulfBreeze]

Yea, There is a lot of fear of Hunter out there but he is still strong.

It looks like Gingrich supporters have been polling wiping and repolling for two days as "nonmembers" on the poll.

Duncan blows everyone away on the Members poll but 'somehow' the nonmembers is so far out for Gingrich (Who I do like a lot) that it is putting him ahead overall. (grrrrr)

[LC HOGHEAD]

Check kiting has been illegal since 1888.

[dfwddr]

Expect to be called a troop-hating, treasonous, unappeasable reactionary

I'd rather be called that than a "Rudy McRomney"

[Howlin]

So it was legal? Well, you better get in touch with Newt Gingrich and the Gang of 7 then. They sure as hell thought it was such a big deal they exposed all 350 people who did it.

It WAS checking KITING.

[AmeriBrit]

Hunter's had 27 years to get exposure but he spent it asleep at the wheel. Other than FReepers and the voters in his district, no one has the slightest idea who he is. There needs to be someone with national name recognition on the ballot in Nov 2008, Hunter doesn't have it, and after wasting 27 years coasting, it's too late now. The time that's left wouldn't be enough to put the news releases out about his dirty laundry to rest.

[Antoninus]

So it was legal?

Yes. They had a perk. The perk was wrong because it smacked of Congressional priviledge, but it wasn't illegal. And it wasn't check-kiting. Hunter didn't actually bounce a check on anyone, nor did the House Bank ever have insufficient funds to cover the checks. And to the best of my knowledge, Hunter made good on any amount he owed to the House Bank. Do you have information that indicates otherwise?

Well, you better get in touch with Newt Gingrich and the Gang of 7 then. They sure as hell thought it was such a big deal they exposed all 350 people who did it. It WAS checking KITING.

It was a big deal. It was an example of a congressional perk that was above and beyond what normal people can expect in our everyday lives. As such, it was abolished by Newt and the Republican wave that swept in in 1994. And they did well to do so.

But to tar Hunter ex post facto because he took advantage of the perk that had existed for decades? Please. After all this was hashed out, he did exactly what he needed to do--step up to the plate and make it right.

Do you think Hunter is a crook?

[Antoninus]

Check kiting has been illegal since 1888.

You would do well to look up what check-kiting actually is.

Congressmen had a perk which allowed them to overdraft. It was a bad idea and it was corrected. Hunter never bounced a single check, nor did he defraud anyone of money he owed. And to the best of my knowledge, he paid off all of his overdrafts. Do you have evidence to the contrary?

[Howlin]

I think you think you're a snowman.

I distinctly remember when that happened; and it wasn't called a SCANDAL for nothing.

[sitetest]

Dear Antoninus,

"how about: Ohio, Pennsylvania,..."

As you know, a lot of folks make a mistake about Pennsylvania, thinking that it's a straight, ordinary blue state. In fact, there are a lot of socially-conservative, pro-"fair-trade" union Democrats in Pennsylvania.

Mr. Casey's success at the expense of Mr. Santorum came in part because Mr. Casey's putative pro-life position helped him take home the votes of many social conservative, pro-life Democrat voters.

As well, a completely free-trade position does poorly in a lot of Pennsylvania.

Thus, Mr. Hunter is poised to do very well with the substantial part of the Pennsylvania electorate that is both committed pro-life and for "fair" trade.

The REAL fantasy is thinking that Rudy McRomney would have a chance in this state. If we nominate either Mr. Giuliani, Mr. Romney, or possibly even Mr. McCain, we've pretty much written off Pennsylvania.


sitetest

[redgirlinabluestate]

If he's an ex-ranger, he may have the military chops to execute a war. But to lead he needs to be able to speak to the folks out there beyond the TV cameras and rally them.

Along those lines, did you see this thread?

Romney dazzles on foreign policy

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1775168/posts

[Clemenza]

ABBGOM: Anybody but Giussolini or McCain.