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Dec. 27, 2007
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MEET THE CANDIDATES: FIFTH IN A SERIES: DUNCAN HUNTER

REPUBLICAN

REPORTING BY PAUL HARASIM REVIEW-JOURNAL
Elections
2008 ELECTIONS
Get more news, voter information


See other candidate profiles


Photo by The Associated Press

Rep. Duncan Hunter hardly registers in polls. But his backers say the San Diego County, Calif., congressman's resume and record on illegal immigration deserve more attention than they have received from the media and voters.

BIRTHDAY: May 31, 1948 (59) HOMETOWN: Riverside, Calif. RELIGION: Baptist

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    • FAMILY: Married to the former Lynne Layh, 1973; two sons, Duncan Duane and Sam

    EDUCATION: Bachelor's degree and law degree, both in 1976, Western State University College of Law (now Thomas Jefferson School of Law)

    EXPERIENCE: Vietnam veteran; practicing attorney, 1976-1980; U.S. congressman from California, 1981-present

    YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW: He just finished rebuilding his East San Diego County home, which burned down in an October 2003 wildfire.

    CAMPAIGN OFFICIAL WEB SITE WWW.GOHUNTER08.COM

    DECISION TO RUN:

    The former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee believes the time is right for a political veteran whose career has been made on issues of national defense to run for president.

    MAJOR THEMES:

    Calls for a strong national defense and "enforceable borders." Favors deporting millions living in the United States illegally. "For the people that say we can't deport these people, we deport thousands of people every month from this country." Says he differs from the Republican field by opposing the North American Free Trade Agreement and similar treaties. "It's a myth that the Republican Party embraces free trade. The multinational companies do."

    IN NEVADA:

    Has no official campaign presence in the state, but has visited Nevada several times.

    IN THE POLLS

    NATIONALLY

    When national polls do list Hunter, he is consistently in the low single-digits among Republicans.

    NEVADA

    A Dec. 9 Review-Journal poll of likely caucus-goers showed Hunter with 2 percent of the vote.

    POSITIONS

    WAR/NATIONAL SECURITY

    Says we must remain in Iraq until Iraqi troops are trained well enough to win the war against insurgents.

    HEALTH CARE

    Says current law requires individuals and small businesses to purchase health care plans offered in their state of residency, holding customers hostage to state legislators and regulators who impose sometimes costly mandates. As a result, an individual policy can cost more than $6,000 in one state and less than $2,000 in another, he says. If people were allowed to buy insurance across state lines, the price would go down, he says.

    IMMIGRATION

    In 1994, Hunter proposed legislation that led to construction of a 14-mile fence on the California-Mexico border. Hunter says the double fence with a high-speed road in between, dramatically reduced the smuggling of people and illegal drugs and cut the crime rate in San Diego. He proposes 854 more miles of fencing that he says would be built within six months of his being elected president.

    NEVADA ISSUES

    Opposes gambling, which he calls on his campaign Web site "a serious problem in today's society, every much as addictive and destructive as alcohol and illegal drugs." Also, in 2006 he supported federal funding for a Web site promoting Nevada's Yucca Mountain as the site for a nuclear waste repository.

    ENERGY

    During a May Republican debate, Hunter said: "We should bring together all of our colleges, the private sector, government laboratories and undertake what will be a great challenge to remove energy dependence on the Middle East. ... We need to take taxes down to zero for the alternative energy sources. We need to make sure that all the licensing from our laboratories goes to the American manufacturing sector for these energy systems."

    TAXES

    Believes reform of the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, is the most pressing tax issue facing Americans. Lawmakers hoped the AMT would guarantee high-income Americans pay at least a minimum amount of taxes. But the tax, created in 1969, was not indexed for inflation, forcing more Americans to pay it as incomes rise.

    CRITICS

    His campaign has been ridiculed for not being visible enough to break into the top tier of candidates. He was demoted from lightweight to "flyweight" among the Republican field by MSNBC.com.

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    Go4Integrity wrote on January 18, 2008 03:09 PM: Duncan Hunter is not as nationally recognized because he doesn't get the press coverage. Being the most consistent conservative candidate is a scary thing for liberals who would have voters look the other direction.

    Duncan Hunter is all about consistency, conservative values, and protecting our nation.


    thetowncrier wrote on January 14, 2008 11:50 AM: Stop with the nonsense about Cunningham! Any of these rumors (that's what they are!) come out of the San Diego Union Trib. The incumbent Hunter beat in his first race works for them...it has ALL been debunked. Don't believe the lies. Hunter accepts no gifts! (opensecrets.org)He has been cleared of any inpropriety in the Cunningham deal.
    The ones that took bribes went to jail.


    thetowncrier wrote on January 14, 2008 11:29 AM: BTW, Hunter has committed delegates, some of the 'top tier' don't!

    Do you remember one of the first debates many months ago when Duncan Hunter referred to some of his fellow candidates as , “THE KENNEDY WING OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY”?

    THAT is why Hunter is out of the media coverage and the debates. He told the truth. CAN’T have that! Not to mention stopping any discussion of China and immigration.

    McCain, Huckabee, Rudy....look who they’re giving us...LOOK who the media and globalist pundits are pushing!

    I think we should start calling it exactly what it is, don’t you? Hunter, as usual, called it first and called it right.

    “THE KENNEDY WING OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY”

    California’s Arnold is certainly a perfect example.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUz-AgMGLQA

    YouTube - New Hampshire Debate: The Kennedy Wing of the Gop Duncan Hunter Watch video - 1 min 11 sec -

    Be sure to read what people say in the comment section when they’re allowed to hear Duncan Hunter.


    William II wrote on December 29, 2007 10:04 PM: Duncan Hunter is the most experienced and qualified canidate in the GOP. Yes, do the research. I was shocked when I did. Why does the media shut out some, especially ones with obvious qualifications. Could it be because we live under a liberal media bias? Duncan Hunter has a long history of consistancy, such a rarity in this politcal pandering age. Yes...do your civic duty....research Duncan Hunter. I did. He gets my vote.


    Abbie Grant wrote on December 27, 2007 08:06 PM: There's too much information that exposes Hunter as the same dirty tricks politician that his buddy Cunningham was. Birds of a feather flock together, Tom.


    Fausto wrote on December 27, 2007 03:58 PM: Media blackout on Ron Paul? I didn't see any of the candidates yet profiled get an hour on Meet the Press recently...Paul did. "Blackout" is just the latest cry from you whiners who can't realize that Ron Paul's platform will not do anything more than perhaps make some small changes in the debate of ideas. It will never lead to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave..


    Triple Eight wrote on December 27, 2007 11:31 AM: blah blah blah....
    WHERE ARE THE ARTICLES on that other
    candidate, Ron Paul?????
    why is there a media blackout/boycott
    on him???


    Tom, Burbank wrote on December 27, 2007 09:46 AM: Knowing a corrupt person is not a crime, nor does it make the acquaintance corrupt. Randy Cunningham was corrupt and did many dirty things that even his family didn't know about. Now we all do, and he's in jail where he belongs.


    Abbie Grant wrote on December 27, 2007 05:33 AM: Southern California residents know him only too well, as a close associate of the now imprisoned Randy "Duke" Cunningham for strong arming defense contracts and handing them over (for a fee of course) to their "good ole boy" network of companies. People, do your research. . .