The media is starting notice Duncan Hunter. The rest of the electorate will as well.
If any of the Republican presidential candidates who participated in the debate sponsored by MSNBC and Politico.com illustrated that he has inherited the mantle of Ronald Reagan, it was Congressman Duncan Hunter.
Moderator Chris Matthews said that everybody knew where Ronald Reagan stood. By evening’s end everybody knew where Hunter stood. He was the paradigm of the unambiguous, resolute, succinct leader.
While McCain and Giuliani equivocated on the issue of abortion, Hunter was firm about his pro-life beliefs.
While Romney was uncertain how to respond to the question of Iran, Hunter left no doubt about what to do.
When Romney wavered about federal funding for stem cell research, Hunter was certain about his opinion and wanted to share it with Mrs. Reagan.
Unlike McCain, Hunter did not pander about his faith and try to walk a fine line between secular and religious. He was definitive about his belief as to what was the correct course in the Schiavo case.
Unlike the other candidates, Hunter was also definitive about what to do about illegal immigration. Build a fence to keep them out. He mentioned the results he achieved by getting a fence constructed near the San Diego border with Mexico.
Unfortunately, Hunter did not have the opportunity to respond to some questions. For example, he could have pointed out that the incidents of corruption among some Republican politicians – including his friend Duke Cunningham – were all investigated and prosecuted by a Republican Justice Department. Furthermore, political corruption is not unique to Republicans and the very fact that the question was asked was indicative of the liberal bias of MSNBC, Politico.com, and Chris Matthews.
Hunter also has an innovative solution for the healthcare dilemma. Interestingly, not one candidate who was asked about healthcare mentioned malpractice reform. Yet Hunter is considering an idea that would make it voluntary for people not to sue their Primary Care Physician, for which they would enjoy cheaper insurance rates as a result of a decrease in malpractice insurance costs by the physician.
He has initiated legislation to issue a Congressional pardon for the convicted Border Patrol officers Compean and Ramos.
There are several other issues where Hunter demonstrates the Reagan philosophy and leadership qualities. For example, he was the only one to mention the inequitable trade treaties favoring China, which have a deleterious effect on our own manufacturing capabilities.
Apparently others noticed, because he has received some favorable reviews of his performance.
Rush Limbaugh gave Hunter good grades for his debate performance.
Rolling Stone National Affairs said, “(Hunter) came off as a credible candidate. He stole all of Tancredo’s thunder on immigration and his unabashed support of the military industrial complex reminded me more of the Reagan I remember than anyone else’s policy positions. He had the presidentiality that Romney’s supposed to project, and a conversationality about his platform that both McCain and Giuliani lacked. Could get some movement.”
NBC’s Chuck Todd paid Hunter a left-handed compliment: “Why doesn't Duncan Hunter smile? He's a serious guy; carries himself well . . . but he needs to smile . . .”
Human Events gave Hunter an ‘A’; “A great performance from the California Congressman. He is the member of Congress who has the greatest chance of winning the election. Hunter has a friendly demeanor and carries himself with a curious appeal. With direct answers and informed responses, he impressed on my mind Presidential demeanor. Although candidates were given a short amount of time, I am anxious to hear what else Congressman Duncan Hunter has up his sleeve. He is sure to be an exciting figure to watch in the months to come.”
Fox News said, “An honorable mention goes to Congressman Duncan Hunter, who outdistanced his western state rival for the anti-immigration vote, Congressman Tom Tancredo. Hunter was more attractive and handled the immigration issue better than Tancredo. He helped himself move to the front rank of the second tier of candidates.”
The media is starting notice Hunter. The rest of the electorate will as well.
If Duncan Hunter can get the financial resources needed to continue his campaign he will definitely be the Reaganesque candidate the Republican Party and the country needs.
I know a lot of pro-War conservatives favor Hunter, but according to the post debate reaction on the Web, Ron Paul was the clear winner.
Who else wants to abolish the IRS (not replace it with a flat or sales tax), restore sound money, opposes the national ID, and is against big-government foreign intervention?
Ron Paul is by far and away the most conservative candidate, and he deserves conservative support.
Ron Paul’s support is not evident in media – even so-called conservative media. He is a champion of true liberty that hard-line GOP’ers will not tolerate. Dr. Paul’s foreign policy observations in his book “A Foreign Policy of Freedom” have changed my mind about the true goals of conservativism in the GOP camp.
He is the most electable candidate in either lineup, appealing to both libertarian Republicans and conservative Democrats.
I can only speculate why the GOP does not actively promote their most electable candidate. Speculation would include the desire to control over the desire for liberty. I think this demostrates the failure of modern conservatives – adopting the same philosophy of coercion that socialist Democrats espouse.
True conservatism regards liberty above manipulative power. Dr. Paul could resuscitate the fibrillating heart of conservatism with a much-needed infusion of liberty.
Dr. Paul’s ideas, while good, do not translate well to public policy. That’s the essential trap that many conservatives, upon hearing a truer conservative voice fall into. While conservatism is the essential cornerstone of this country, Dr. Paul would literally have an uphill climb between both GOP’ers and DNC’ers in getting things done. He could as the chief executive, dismantle the IRS and any other department within his pervue (Dept. of Education would be a nice one too), but he would get butchered from all sides from the upheaval it would create without a sound tax plan to replace eliminating the tax code and solely relying on excise taxes. I agree with his sentiments, just not the execution.