Duncan Hunter has made himself an official candidate for President today, filing papers with the FEC and launching his new (and awkwardly titled) campaign website: GoHunter08.com!
It looks as though ol’ Dunker is going to stick with the issues he’s been championing thus far.? Namely immigration/border security,?fair trade, and national defense/War on Terror.? These genres of topics make up the bulk of Hunter’s “Where I Stand” page on his website, though he does also mention taxes, small businesses, and family values/social issues.
It will be interesting to see if he can keep his head above the water once the floodgates open in February.? He’s actually done a fair job at making a name for himself and earning a small, but vocal, cadre of supporters.? His status as an underdog probably helps solidify a “novelty” aura around him that attracts some if not simply because he is such an unheard-of longshot.
January 25th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
I hope readers will not expect me to hold Congressman Hunter’s feet to the fire and scrutinize his record and positions. He will not be able to raise the money to be a serious candidate for President.
January 25th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Nah, everyone from the top 6 on the left side of this page ought to be fine.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
If Hunter was a Senator he would ranked much higher than he is now. He will make a fairly good showing which will be all the better on his quest for secretary of the DOD.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:51 pm
Peter,
I agree.
January 25th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
Peter you mention that his position would be better if he were a senator, and I agree, but isn’t it interesting that only two senators have ever been elected President (Kennedy and Harding), and both of them died after serving only 2 1/2 years in the Oval Office. Will this year make a third?
January 26th, 2007 at 8:41 am
Actually, I hope that you do cover him and the rest of the other candidates. You can’t simply say that
he doesn’t have a chance and therefore, you aren’t going to scrutinize him. Look at Howard Dean. He
came from no money, no name recognition and no base to the frontrunner (before of course the whole Iowa debacle).
Everybody running, including Ron Paul, Tommy Thompson, Duncan Hunter, Chuck Hagel, Tom Tancredo and John Cox
deserves to be covered.
January 26th, 2007 at 11:33 am
Duncan Hunter is about as true a conservative as you can get and if he were, let’s say, a Senator, he would have more money a bigger and better organization, and much better name recognition than he does. He would quite a force to be reckoned with in the Republican primaries and his poll numbers would be considerably better than they are now. But still, I do think he will do better than people expect.
January 26th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Brian,
I think it’s interesting that you mention John Cox. What are your thoughts on him? I have been debating whether to discuss him on my own blog (GOP2008Blog.com), and so far, I’ve left him off because of just how much of a longshot he is…
Most large, respectable ’08 blogs these days have chosen to ignore Cox as well, but some, including the fantastic Iowa blog, Caucus Cooler do choose to discuss him, and he does qualify to be listed alongside of other official Republican presidential candidates on Wikipedia’s ’08 page.
Cox’s campaign website looks snappy, as do his campaign commercials, but the guy’s never really held elective office before. He couldn’t even win his race for Illinois Cook County Recorder of Deeds, let alone a presidential primary. Yet, John Cox seems to be just as “official” a candidate as Rudy or McCain or Romney.
However, if I start giving attention to John Cox, it’s only a small step to other long-long-long-shot candidates, and then what?
If somebody could convince me why it would be helpful or wise or professional to discuss candidates like Cox on respected blogs or political sites, without spewing all that “America is the land of opportunity, where any body can grow up to be President” crap, I might consider to begin discussing/analyzing him, although I can’t see why any fan of Cox would want him to be analyzed by major blogs/sites, considering the overwhelmingly inherent stupidity of his campaign would be laid bare for all to see.