Hat tip to Kavon for getting the inside scoop on this earlier this morning.
Duncan Hunter has now officially announced his intention to be a candidate for the 2008 presidential race, according to the International Herald Tribune:
Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, the chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Monday he was taking the initial step in a bid for the presidency in 2008.
Hunter, who has represented the San Diego area district for 26 years, announced the surprise bid at a news conference in front of supporters on the San Diego waterfront.
Hunter said that as he finishes his final two years in the House of Representatives, “I’m also going to prepare to run for president of the United States in 2008.”
“This is going to be a long road, it’s a challenging road, there’s going to be some rough and tumble, but I think it’s the right thing to do for our country,” Hunter said.
Hunter’s bid surprised some Republican leaders in Washington. He had not been discussed as one of the many candidates considering a presidential bid, including Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
Analysts quickly characterized Hunter’s candidacy as a long shot.
Hunter, 58, became chairman of the House Armed Services Committee in 2003 ‘ a position he would lose should Democrats take control of the House after the Nov. 7 midterm election. By making an announcement now, he can begin raising money while still heading the committee.
It’s funny that we have to say this, but Hunter is really a late entry.? He has a lot of hard, up-hill work to do to catch up with the established candidates.? Perhaps a Seventh,?Eighth, Ninth, or Tenth?on the Power Rankings would suffice…?
October 30th, 2006 at 6:36 pm
I’m figuring on 10th. Even with absolutely no preparations made on his behalf, he still has a better chance than Chuck Hagel. However, Pataki has accomplished too much on the ground for him to be placed behind Hunter.
Also, the last Congressman to be elected President was James Garfield in 1880. The fact that Pataki is the Governor of New York alone should place him ahead of Hunter.
October 30th, 2006 at 6:44 pm
Tenth sounds like a safe idea for now. I’m anxious to see some polling with his name included, as well as seeing what kind of campaign staff he snags.
While we’re on the subject of the rankings, I’m almost tempted to suggest completely flip-flopping the Allen-Brownback-Pataki setup. For all Pataki’s wrong views on the issues, he seems to be setting up too much organization to ignore. Allen has lost 99.9% of his momentum, supporters are deserting him left and right, and he is almost universally expected to announce he will not seek the nomination after all. Brownback has just been utterly stagnant this whole entire year–I just don’t see a lot of ambition on his part or inspiration of the masses in support of him. I know putting Pataki above Allen and Brownback goes against everything I’d assumed prior to now, and I know I would have vomited if I’d known a year ago today that I’d be suggesting this, but this really does seem to be how it’s shaping up.
Perhaps it’s time for a blog-wide referendum on the rankings again? Already the 2008 playing field is in a very different shape since the last time the rankings were altered.
November 21st, 2006 at 10:08 am
Free space for blogs
Read more about Free space for blogs