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Home town Hunter announces presidential plans
By Christy Scott
The Alpine Sun
ALPINE — “As chairman of the Armed
Services Committee, I want you to know I’m going to do
everything I can to continue to make our country the strongest
in the world… And while I’m doing that — while we’re doing that
together as a nation, there’s something else that I’m going to
be doing, and that’s why I wanted to talk to you today.”
These were the words from Alpine resident and 52nd
district Congressman Duncan Hunter at a press conference held
last Monday morning. With the backdrop of San Diego’s waterfront
and military ships, the same spot where he first declared his
candidacy more than 26 years ago, Hunter announced that he is
exploring a possible presidential bid in the 2008 election.
“It 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 to
about 100 supporters and members of the media.
His announcement surprised his supporters as well as
Republican leaders.
“In typical Duncan Hunter fashion, I didn’t consult
with any Republican leaders,” Hunter said.
Hunter, a local Alpine resident and 13-term Congressman, is
considered by some to be long shot candidate in the 2008 race.
He has gained notoriety as chairman of the House Armed Services
Committee, as well as for his strong stance on the military and
illegal immigration.
“I’ve always laid my cards on the table,” Hunter said.
“As I finish my final two years as chairman of the Armed
Services Committee, I’m also going to be preparing to run for
president of the United States in 2008.”
Hunter will join what is expected to be a crowded field
of presidential hopefuls in 2008, with about a dozen other
Republicans and an equal number of Democrats lining up for runs
at their party’s nomination. However, Hunter is the first
Republican to officially announce his plans to look at the
presidency.
Hunter believes the time is right for a defense-minded
political veteran whose career has been made on issues of
national defense.
“I think I can make a difference,” he said. “Especially
when it comes to national security and keeping American jobs and
our industrial base. What I plan to do is tell people what I
stand for and see if I can attract enough support to win the
election.”
His announcement last Monday allows Hunter to begin
raising money for his presidential hopes, even before he wins
reelection in this week’s midterm election, which is expected in
this highly Republican district.
Hunter was a leader in the construction of a 14-mile
fence along the U.S.-Mexico border south of San Diego, and he
cosponsored legislation that President Bush recently signed to
build 700 miles of additional fencing along the border. A
Vietnam veteran, Hunter has advocated for a strong military,
sometimes taking positions to the right of Republican leaders.
He expressed strong support for Bush on Monday, saying
the president deserves credit for five years of no new attacks
against Americans by terrorists.
He is expected to cruise to reelection next week, but
if Democrats win a majority in the House he would lose his
committee chairmanship. Numerous national polls indicate
Democrats are likely to win enough seats to take control of the
House.
Though he is expected to keep his congressional seat,
the question now is whether Hunter could be a serious candidate
for president, particularly given the record of members of
Congress seeking the presidency — none has succeeded since the
1960 election of then-Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kennedy.
Hunter said he decided to announce his White House
plans after traveling to Pennsylvania, New Hampshire,
Connecticut, Arizona and Oklahoma earlier this month.
The key issues on the national security front he says
he will talk about include Iran and its intentions to build
nuclear weapons; the threat posed by North Korea and its
existing nuclear arms, and the emergence of China as a
superpower.
“All of those developments against the backdrop of
national security are going to continue to be very important,”
Hunter said. “Having a strong defense, maintaining our
industrial base and creating an enforceable border with Mexico
have a high degree of resonance with most Americans.”
“We are living in an increasingly dangerous world. I
encourage voters to examine my record and consider my experience
as chair of Armed Services and my work on national security
issues, with which I’ve been involved since I first came to
Congress,” he said. “I believe national security and a strong
military are more important issues now than they have ever
been.”
“We’re serious about this and national security is
going to be a primary issue for our country over the next five
to 10 years,” said Hunter, who sits on the advisory board of The
American Conservative Union, a more than four-decades-old
Washington group devoted to conservative causes. “I intend to
focus on the early primaries and work those states hard.”
Hunter said that while he has announced that he is
preparing a run for president, he has not yet made an official
announcement of his candidacy. “This gives me a chance to make
another speech.”
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Christy Scott
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