Why No Push For Duncan Hunter?
As we look at the potential candidates, there are too many who follow the MSM’s push like little lambs. We look at polls, name recognition, and electability factors. What we should be looking at are the issues that matter to us.
As far as conservative principles go we can throw Rudy Giuliani out of the picture straight up. The only thing he has going for him is the National Defense/anti-Hillary thing. It’s hard to tell where Mitt Romney really stands. Tom Tancredo has a great stance on the border issue, and solid conservative credentials…but he is running on a one issue platform. Huckabee is just too much of a nannystater for me. Ron Paul? I really don’t want to go there. Suffice it to say that I personally disagree with him on the war on terror and several other issues.
While I have tried to be neutral in coverage here, because I am still undecided at this point, I have been leaning towards Fred Thompson. He has solid conservative credentials and a record to show for it. Our friend, and fellow contributor here, Lobo, likes Duncan Hunter. Duncan Hunter has a great conservative record as well, and is definitely right on the issues that are important.
I like Duncan Hunter as well. I’ve continued to lean towards Fred on the electability factor. However, that factor may be fading. In a recent poll of New Hampshire he is really sliding. It’s also a little worrisome that some of his original backers are losing faith. Of course none of that matters. We are throwing out the polls and electability factor in this discussion. There have been plenty of surprises so far and anything can still happen.
The folks at Freerepublic have narrowed their choice down to Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter. These are the two they think can beat the defeat the liberal abortionists Rudy Giuliani and Hillary Clinton. Some folks there are rooting for a Thompson/Hunter ticket. They have put up a poll if you are interested in participating.
However, the point I’m trying to get at is the unfair treatment by the MSM towards Duncan Hunter. I’ve also been curious as to why so many conservatives are backing a liberal like Rudy Giuliani and questionable characters like Mitt Romney. Why is so little attention being paid towards a solid conservative like Duncan Hunter?
I’m not the only one wondering. Rush Limbaugh had this question brought up while talking to a listener.
CALLER: All right. The question is this. I think the most conservative candidate that we have for president is Duncan Hunter, going through his website, listening to what he’s got on the news, his different interviews and stuff, I mean he definitely meets the conservative agenda head on. And we’re just not hearing a lot from him. And we’re not hearing a lot from him, from you. And I’m wondering, sir, do you have any plans in the near future for interviews with him, for talking to him on the air? I mean, I did hear, you spoke about an e-mail update you got from him the other day, but other than that it looks like the best candidate here is not getting pushed by the strongest conservative people.
RUSH: Well, here’s my answer to your question. I’m asked this a lot and historically I have not gotten involved in primaries, because if I had any of these people, and they have all asked to come on this show, and I respectfully say no, because I’d have to ask them all back. And I really don’t look at this program as a campaign vehicle during primaries. Among other things, I, frankly, Mark, I have the belief that political candidates have a duty to get noticed themselves. It’s an unfair process in terms — Mrs. Clinton. Mrs. Clinton is strictly there because she didn’t divorce her husband. In fact, she’s strictly there because she married him. If her last name weren’t Clinton, she’d be the dean of some all-girls’ school in Albania touring villages at night and doing whatever you do in a village at night, when you run an all-girls’ school. She’s just benefiting from conventional wisdom. In the case of Rudy, the reason Rudy is getting a lot of attention is the northeastern bias in the media. The northeastern bias in the media wants two northeasterners to run.
Even some of our conservative journalist friends who are headquartered and work in the northeast, in New York and Washington, are willing to overlook, in some cases, the lack of genuine conservatism in some candidates because they’re from the northeast. They have a geographical bias because of where they live. People in the northeast think it’s at that it’s the heartbeat and the pulse of the country there, and the rest of the country is flyover country and all of that. So it’s tough to get out of the bottom tier. You need a really humongous debate performance, and you need an early announcement in some cases when you’re going against somebody that’s going to benefit from all the conventional wisdom, the media and others. But I sit and watch until one of them surfaces because that’s what their job is to do, not mine.
Rush brings up a good point. You do have to overcome the unfair treatment of the media, and get yourself noticed. So does this bring us back to the factors of electability and name recognition? Those factors do weigh heavily on many voters. I guess we can’t throw them out, but wouldn’t it be nice if conservatives put more weight on the issues that matter instead of compromising to the MSM’s popularity contests? In the meanwhile, I’ll pray that the more conservative candidates start doing something to get noticed more.
Out of my two favorites, Fred Thompson probably still has the better chance. Hopefully he wakes up from his lackluster campaigning and does a few slams at the next debate. If Hunter has an opportunity handed to him, I hope he goes for it as well. In the meantime, a Thompson/Hunter ticket might not be a bad thing to hope for. Time is ticking, but at this point…anything can still happen.
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Posted by Jay on November 19, 2007 7:22 pm
» Filed Under 1st Amendment, News, Politics As Usual, War On Terror
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27 Responses to “Why No Push For Duncan Hunter?”
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I’m the Grassroots Coordinator for Texas for the Duncan Hunter campaign and we have all kinds of opinions on why no one is pushing Duncan Hunter. However, I’ll give you one reason to start (if you want more, I’ll continue later in the discussion). I’m pasting this from an email discussion thread I had with a bunch of veterans:
Here’s a connection between the media and the presidential campaign you guys might find interesting. I’ve often wondered why Fox News – accused of being Right Wing – has been cramming Giuliani (nowhere near being a conservative) down our throats. Even during the debates, the bias toward Giuliani is clear. In fact, watch the Fox News debate specifically and you will see that the lesser-known candidates (such as Duncan Hunter and Tom Tancredo) get only two questions and then are promptly cut-off when their time is up. Giuliani, on the other hand, dominates the Q and A and is given plenty of time to complete his points AFTER his time is up. It’s a clear bias to me and I couldn’t figure out WHY.
Until…
I found out that Bracewell and Giuliani, Rudy’s law firm head-quartered here in Houston, TX – is legal counsel for Fox News. Yes, you read that right, Fox News is Giuliani’s client. Conflict of interest, ya think? Hell yeah. Where do you think Giuliani will put his tens of millions in advertising?
It’s a dirty business, and most people don’t even know that they’re being led around by their noses by the media. But I’ll be damned if I let Fox News pick my candidate for me. I encourage you guys to consider former Army Ranger Duncan Hunter. He’s our Reagan – and I’m not exaggerating. I know the man personally, and he’s the real deal. He swept the straw poll here in Texas, and in Arizona, and N. Carolina – yet the media refuses to cover him! Why is that? BECAUSE HE HAS NO MONEY! That’s right, he’s grassroots, all the way. The media is not gonna get a big chunk of change out of this candidate and they damn well know it. So they’ve blackballed him. And by doing so, they are deliberately and consciously limiting Americans’ right to know. In order to get info on Duncan Hunter, you have to go directly to the source (www.gohunter08.com), because the media will not cover him in any way, shape, or form. Dirty, greedy bastards is all they are.
Think about it…
The GOP has damaged itself so much that the only way they can bounce back is to elect Rudy Guilani who can force Dems to SPEND in some Dems states like New Jersey. Sure Rudy is a Social Lib but he will carry many conservatives on his coatails. Choosing another Repub spells DISASTER for the GOP. Dems will gain more seats in both houses and the White House.
As someone who is tired of being told by the media who is the front runner I think it is time to look at hunter. He sounds good to me1
I disagree Dennis. If Rudy gets the nomination it will rip the GOP apart. Many will stay at home. Some of the other candidates have a better chance of getting the vote out, even if we have to hold our nose to be united. I don’t see Rudy being able to motivate even that.
I agree 100% with that, Jay.
Dems will gain more seats in both houses and the White House.
If you believe that, why would you support a Libpub? Giuliani would have full support of the Congress and the Republican party would be effectively neutured.
There would be absolutely no check to the Liberal agenda.
There is no candidate with a record to match Duncan Hunter. I think Duncan is THE BEST conservative candidate since Reagan. This guy dropped out of college to be a Army Ranger in Vietnam, came home and got his law degree and has held office for over 25 years. His record is rock solid. The Duncan Hunter movement is 100% grassroots. Don’t let the MSM lead you blindly to the polls. We have a rare chance to support a man like Duncan. His trade message is awesome. One could say it is a populist dem message that scares the hell out of the rich GOP supporters.
Duncan Hunter can connect to both sides and win against the Dems.
You see Duncan puts America first…not just the party he represents.
I like Duncan Hunter.
I can’t deny POLLS placing Fred in a back slide. But I can say I still support him as do many of my friends. And I know there is alot of “SO CALLED” republicans jading those same POLLS. Perhaps the Anti-Freds AKA the Ron Paulians have a jelously trip on Fred.
I also like Hunter as well. And I do agree the MSM is shading any light he is deserved.
“Perhaps the Anti-Freds AKA the Ron Paulians have a jelously trip on Fred.”
Yeah. Jealous of a man that has half the poll numbers of Ron paul.
Jealous of a man whose 10 supporters are outnumbered by Ron Paul supporters at his OWN events.
Jealous of a man nobody believes is really even running besides the media.
We are REAL jealous. Boy, if only Ron Paul could be doing so poorly!
Duncan Hunter would be a disaster for the economy, of the U.S. and globally. He said he would put up tarrifs in response to other nations putting up tarrifs. That shows he doesn’t understand economics. Even if one side has a tarrif, you gain more by not putting up a tarrif. A tarrif war is what led to the Great Depression. What he wants to do would bring us into the next Great Depression. Also, he doesn’t seem to care much about individual liberty.
Ron Paul stands the best chance of winning a general election. It isn’t because of his solid voting record, though. It is because he has strongly opposed the war that 70%ish of Americans oppose. Obama supporters will learn that he’s voted the same as Senator Clinton on war-related votes. Having a solid anti-war voting record is hard to defeat this election.
In the general election, being against the war will win it. Ron Paul has been there from the beginning.
We can sign on for a lot of candidates that will lose a general election, or the true Constitutional conservative that will at worst halt the decline of America for 4 years and at best improve it for well beyond 8 years.
While I’m not a believer of strategic voting (I think people should vote for the best candidate), if beating the Democrats is the goal, Ron Paul is the answer. Although Clinton appears to be (in reality) as in favor of the war as the Republican candidates (minus Paul), Paul is the closest to match the American people on this issue.
On the Reagan end, Ron Paul was a strong supporter as early as 1976.
The strength of the Republican party in years past has been ending undeclared wars. This strength should continue.
With Ron Paul, a conservative, along with us, we could win.
Think about it.
“Ron Paul stands the best chance of winning a general election”
LOL! That’s one of the funniest things I’ve read today!
That is pretty funny isn’t it. Know what is even funnier? How my Hunter thread got taken over by Paultards.
Dale, what you’ve proven is that you don’t understand Hunter’s position on international trade, WHATSOEVER. Either you are completely ignorant of his stance, or you are deliberately misrepresenting it – either one discredits you completely. Please don’t embarrass yourself further by speaking in public on something about which you know so very little.
With hundreds of billions in trade imbalances, American manufacturing moving to China, the American dollar at its weakest across the globe, and billions of American commercial dollars being used by Communist China to purchase weapons from Russia, our current trade policies are not working – and haven’t been for decades. Duncan Hunter is the ONLY candidate talking about this. He’s the only with a plan for new trade policies. That’s what a leader does: he looks down the road, identifies the problems, and formulates a plan to overcome them. It’s called “having a vision.” The other Presidential candidates are too busy responding to flaky polls, while Duncan Hunter solidly makes plans to save this country from generations of harmful and unfair policies.
Here’s more on Hunter’s perspective on trade: http://www.gohunter08.com/inner.asp?z=11
Brock said: “Ron Paul stands the best chance of winning a general election.”
Ron Paul wouldn’t get elected again in his own Congressional district. Most of the active Republicans of the 14th CD of Texas are embarrassed that he’s our Congressman. Every time I sheepishly mention to another Texan whose district I live in, they guffaw out loud. He’s like the crazy uncle in the closet. What a joke.
I complained to Fox News about the unfairness of the debate, it was glaring, and sickening. R
Duncan Hunter is by far the best choice in the current presidential race for “Conservatives” that are truly conservative minded.
Has everybody gone insane? Rudy has proven himself to be a gun-hating, abortion loving, RINO, and now we are supposed to believe he is a “Conservative”?
Dale in his comments complains that Hunter does not understand economics, because he would try to get some equity with our trading partners.
Dale, first you should learn to spell the word tariff properly, and then you should try not to regurgitate liberal talking points.
Duncan Hunter and Ron Paul are very similar(immigration, the fence, trade, abortion, 2nd Amendment). Its really just the war issue that divides them. I honestly believe that both are honest and would do what they thought was best for the country. So in alphabetical order the men I would vote for if they are nominated. (and I’m not done deciding for the primary, a lot could change.)
Vote for
Duncan Hunter (solid conservative, honest, Pro war, but Democratic Congress.)
John Mccain (only one of the lesser evils id vote for.)
Mike Huckabee (new kind of Republican, Ill give him a shot)
Ron Paul. (Hes honest, hes smart, and the first thing he will do is limit the power of the executive branch, and in no way will congress go along with his small government ideas. Talk about veto city, the thought of Nancy Pelosi getting shot down on every democrat government expansion is quite nice.)
No chance in hell
Alan Keyes (no shot)
Tom Tancredo (he isn’t trying to win)
Probably sit home.
Fred Thompson (I just don’t know if I can trust him yet)
Mitt Romney (I know I cant trust him)
Vote 3rd Party
Rudy Julie-Annie (I forget who first called him that but its great)
Yes Id vote 3rd party if Rudy was our nominee He and Hillery are twins Pro war Pro Globalization/NAFTA Pro Abortion, both are rumored bisexuals (not as an election issue but their similar in everything, since none of the other 20ish candidates are rumored to be that way)and both are jerks. If I cant see one difference between the 2 I’m going to cast my vote for someone who I think is at least honest.
Mike B, Duncan Hunter is pro-VICTORY, not pro-war. He’s been to war, remember? He wants nothing more than to end this war – on OUR terms and with decisive victory. He’s personally vested in this war like no other candidate is – his first-born son (a Marine Corp captain) is on his THIRD tour of duty in this war. Yet, having made the sacrifices all our military families have had to make, Hunter still believes there is simply no substitute for victory.
The most dangerous problem with Ron Paul – among many others – is that he does NOT understand the problems in the Middle East. He’s dangerously naive and we can’t trust a Commander-in-Chief who doesn’t understand the enemy.
Agreed, but congress right now is against the war. My point is that a democratic congress limits what Ron Paul AND Duncan Hunter can do. Im watching whats happening, Personally I believe things by next election will be settled enough to pull the troops out, I do not want our guys there for the next 20 years. But the Troops are doing a great job. I think Bush and Hillery and Rudy are for staying in Iraq long after we need to. I think thats a disservice to our troops.
I don’t think Duncan Hunter wants them there for 20 years either. What happens if Iran attacked Israel? We don’t have the ground troops, their all deployed. Thats why that idiot Rudy talks about the nuclear option, were out of troops.
So one of 2 things to restore our reserve manpower to be able to deal with a threat. Get out of Iraq when the Iraqi Army can handle it. (which might be quite soon) Or we start the draft. The troops need our support, but once the job is done I don’t want a president like Rudy or Hillery keeping them there forever.
Ron Paul is flat out loco!
Isolationism may have been an option about 200+ years ago when our enemies were roaming the waters in wooden ships.
Now we have Terrorist Nations trying to aquire nukes, and Paul wants the US to just sit on the up in the nose-bleed section, and idly watch the mass-destruction.
Earth to Mr. Paul, the world has become too small, and there is no nose-bleed section.
Mike B,
You said; “but congress right now is against the war”
If that were true one of their 58 bills this year to get us out of Iraq would have passed by now.
You also said; “What happens if Iran attacked Israel? We don’t have the ground troops, their all deployed.”
Mike! First, “all” our troops are not deployed.
Second, Look at a map. Those that are deployed are strategically stationed between Iran and Israel and surrounding Iran!
If you want to bring the troops home, let’s start with bringing them home from Germany, N. Korea, Japan and KOSOVO.
That would be Hunter/Thompson if anything! I have backed Hunter since the beginning, and it is absoluting frustrating that no one is following him around like they are doing with their tongues hanging out of their mouths with billary.
Don’t you get it? THEY DO NOT WANT A CONSERVATIVE ON ANY TICKET! They are only going to show us what THEY want us to see. They have manipulated many elections before, and I’m sick and tired of conservative pundits telling us that this is the way or that is the way things are done because this is the way it was always done that way before. SO WHAT?
Go to Go Hunter ‘08, and make up your own mind. We are NOT sheeple. We get to nominate who WE CHOOSE. Talk about choice! lol.
Remember, his son who is coming home from Afghanistan (on his 3rd tour) is running for his father’s seat in Congress: Duncan Hunter (I think).
Thank you.
tickedofftoo,
I agree the Democrats cant do anything about anything. But considering the Army has 500,000 troops and the USMC has 180,000 about 2/7ths of our forces are tied up there. Considering Iran has 65 million people and rough terrain. Pulling everyone back from Germany etc isn’t really a solution.
Duncan Hunter is the only conservative choice. No one else even qualifies as a conservative, except Tancredo. (Personally, I’d love to see him as Hunter’s Chief of Homeland Security.)
Look…let’s get down to brass tacks, here.
Y’all must see the resemblance between the losing Democratic strategy in ‘04 (Anyone but Bush!!!) and what you all are saying we conservatives MUST settle for today (Anyone but Hillary!!!)? It’s a losing proposition, people.
Merely voting AGAINST someone is not enough to win. Remember, Democrats don’t vote on principles, but conservatives DO. That means that the Repub nominee has to uphold and support the principles fundamental to the Republican core. Just fielding a candidate because he barely has an (R) after his name and then saying, “Hey, anybody is better than Hillary!†will not work on conservatives the way it did on the brain-dead Left.
None of the RINOs will win in ‘08 – especially not Giuliani, because he divides the party.
A divided Republican party will lose and the elites are more concerned right now with selling out their few remaining conservatives than uniting the party. Without Christians, 2nd Amendment groups, anti-illegal immigration groups, and social conservatives – none of whom will support Giuliani en masse – Repubs will lose. Nominating Giuliani guarantees it.
I’m so tired of being told that Giuliani is the only candidate that can win against Hillary. He’s being shoved down our throats. And he most certainly cannot win.
It never ceases to amaze me the lengths and depths people will go to to airbrush Giuliani. If you go back and compile the pundits’ excuses and explanations for Giuliani’s deficiencies as a candidate, it’s tiresome because there are so many.
Why even bother with him? He cannot win. I can’t believe he’s even gotten this much traction – except for the slavish media coverage he’s been gifted with. Think about it. Why has the MSM already anointed Giuliani already as the Repub nominee??? Anything the media wants is bound to be bad for the country. The media likes Giuliani because he is most like them. It’s just icing on the cake that his nomination guarantees Clinton’s win.
Consider recent history. Enough conservatives stayed home in ‘06 to turn both he House and the Senate over to the Democrats, so it’s quite LIKELY to happen again. The Repubs have alienated the conservatives for far too long and can’t count on their votes anymore. Now they’ll have to EARN them, and that’s not something they are willing to do. Giuliani will fail to inspire enough staunch conservatives to vote, and others will vote their conscience anyway – which won’t be for Giuliani, I can tell you.
I recently had an a hard-core water-carryin’ Repug smarmily tell me I have to vote for the Republican nominee no matter what – or it will be MY fault that Hillary gets elected President. After all, he said smugly:
Really? Because it rather reeks of compromise. I’d say PRINCIPLES are thy friend. That’s something the Repubs have forgotten. They paid for it in ‘06, and ‘08 will be a repeat, unless they return to the principles that brought the party together under Reagan. Believe it.
~Heidi
“A tariff war is what led to the Great Depression†Dale
You have to stop listening to propaganda. The Great Depression was probably caused by the unstable U.S. dollar and banking system and the normal flow of economics. There are always high points and low points in economics because God chooses not to maintain a steady flow of resources or the general desire to purchase goods and services on the part of the people. A tariff war leads to inflation as the cost of goods increases and not to a depression. For reasons I do not know the people’s desire to purchase goods decreased thus collapsing the market and after that a number of other dominoes fell. The housing market is having the same problem now. Other markets constantly suffer likewise and some people make and lose money off that flow.
I’m with a Thompson/Hunter ticket! Redeploy our troops from Korea, Japan and Europe to the theaters in the War on Islamic Jihad.