Duncan Hunter's hard road ahead
By: JOHN VAN DOORN - Staff Writer | ∞
Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican from El Cajon, is running for his party's presidential nomination in 2008, and running hard.
He recently went to South Carolina to speak at a steel mill, which is an unalloyed sign that he is serious, although San Diego took him at his word in October when he announced his intention.
Hunter seems not to have appointed the pro forma "exploratory" committee yet. He says he will next year.
Right-minded explorers won't be doing him or anyone else any good unless they come back and tell Hunter that he is a long shot. Very long. But he knows that already.
Just look at the list (as it stands today assembled by The Associated Press) of contenders for the nomination. Mind you, these are just Republicans who have dreams of an oval office:
Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado, Gov. George Pataki of New York, Tommy Thompson.
And Duncan Hunter.
McCain and Giuliani, with a dab of Gingrich and Pataki thrown in, are about the only Republicans that anyone has ever heard of. They are also probably the front runners, although in American politics that is a silly thing to say. Nobody wins anything until the votes are counted, except in Florida, where counting has little to do with winning and losing. There, it's how you stack the game.
With so many nobodies in the gang of 11, who is to say that the equally invisible Hunter cannot move smartly up the list and ... one is overcome at the possibilities.
Hunter knows the odds as well as the next man. He's no fool. Thus he has emerged as a contender who seems determined to sing his song of the hawk, and to do that there's nothing like a national campaign, with planes and trains, television and the Web at your disposal.
There is nothing wrong with his approach. That's how the system works.
Make no mistake. This representative of the 52nd Congressional District is a rock-ribbed conservative.
He detests abortion.
He would seal off the border with Mexico in a thrice, and the views he regularly expresses amount to a roundup of all Mexicans on U.S. soil for a quick and rude trip south. He backs the Great Wall Idea, and he does not speak critically of extremist groups that march armed to the border; President Bush has called these groups vigilantes.
He supports the war in Iraq. His ideas on the prosecution of the war, which seem to acquire polish over the months, are definitely hawkish but not without merit, as in his recently expressed view that the thrust of U.S. work there should be to turn controls over to Iraqis as soon as possible.
Most politicians express variations on that theme.
Hunter deplores U.S. trade policy, particularly that part of it he calls "losing trade." The value-added tax that other nations employ is a particular bugaboo.
He believes that he can add value to the discussion of these national issues, and a big race is the place to do it.
To some places in the nation -- and in a few hidden crannies of San Diego County -- Hunter is sure to be regarded as a wacko, so far right and so unattuned to the national vibe that he is a joke. In other places he may be seen as the one true conservative, a man capable of restoring order to the White House.
In any case, there's no phony in Hunter. He is smart. He believes thoroughly -- or appears to from a distance -- in what he is saying. He is unlikely to bend, messy as the fray can get. He walked the paddies and marshes of Vietnam, so he won't pull back from a swamp.
-- Contact staff writer John Van Doorn at (760) 739-6647 or jvandoorn@nctimes.com.
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Just Curious wrote on Dec 5, 2006 10:26 PM:Just curious why you think North County folks would be interested in Mr. I'm a Hawk Hunter. He isn't going to make it to the plate, let alone first base. He isn't even a likeable guy to start with. I like your work...I hope to see something more topical for this area.
Independent voter wrote on Dec 6, 2006 4:16 AM:I agree with Hunter on several key issues including abortion and trade. He needs to come clean on his support for duke the puke. And he also needs to explain his expertise in healthcare and LOCAL politics that prompted him to write a letter in support of Escondido's dilemma of where to site our hospital. I have a long memory and a loud mouth. My guess is no slam dunk for Dunc.
Think4yourself wrote on Dec 7, 2006 5:49 PM:Interesting dig about the Florida elections. Let it go already with the tired rhetoric and spare us all; and besides, is there a politician that seems more of a sore loser carrying a chip on his shoulder than Al Gore? Gore lost the election because he shunned President Clinton when he should have embraced his political expertise, despite all the scandals. It was just one of a series of bad decisions Gore has made. We should be thankful he is no more than a self appointed expert on everything that most people ignore. Good riddance to Gore. What does it say about a guy who can't win the Presidency against an arguably weak candidate after being VP for eight years?
Epi wrote on Dec 9, 2006 7:03 AM:We believe that Chairman Hunter will make the main list of notable presidential contenders. Once in the debate before the American audience, he will win large support. This will happen because Hunter, as the article states, is sincere, intelligent, especially that, and his heart and soul are for the USA. He is eloquent and persuasive, as well. Glad to see him back the obvious, turn it over to the Iraqi's. From Naples, Florida.
LivingInReality wrote on Dec 9, 2006 8:00 AM:People ignoring Al Gore? Hardly. The public is finally waking up to the global warming issue he's been almost single-handedly carrying (on the political scene) for this sorry, belly-gazing, denial-ridden country. People are only starting to listen to him now, after Katrina and the recent damning studies that have shown the payment we will be making with our livelihoods over the next few decades because of our folly. Did you see the British study that predicted a 30% drop in global GDP by 2030 due to the effects of climate change? Pity people like you still don't get it. I do however concur with your comments about Gore's poorly-run campaign. In fact you barely scratched the surface there. But why conflate those with the wisdom of the man's words? And don't kid yourself, Florida's elections have been a joke the past few rounds. It's gotten bad enough that we would likely be well-served to call in people like Hugo Chavez to oversee our third-world quality balloting system. Kind of sad for a country arrogating itself as the "exporter of democracy". Talk about self-appointed blowharding. We need to look in the mirror.
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