Hunter

I feel sorry for the guy; everyone else in this race has had his moment in the sun in this topsy-turvey race. Why not him?

Comments

Hey Matt, have you seen my The World's Smallest Violin?

Posted by Gregorio | December 12, 2007 2:19 PM

By ZEV CHAFETS-NY TIMES MAGAZINE
Interview with Mike Huckabee
Published: December 12, 2007

‘‘What you do,’’ he explained, ‘‘is surround yourself with the best possible advice.’’ The only name he mentioned was Representative Duncan Hunter of California. ‘‘Duncan is extraordinarily well qualified to be secretary of Defense,’’ he said.
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There you go. The confirmation hearings alone will provide enough press and notoriety to fuel a thousand blog postings.

Posted by steve duncan | December 12, 2007 3:01 PM

I think if hunter could be persuaded to drop-out he would be the ultimate running mate to show that someone is tough on illegals, with less baggage than "nuke mecca" Tancredo. Is there some rule that you can't declare a running mate until after the primaries? It might be a disaster in the general election though, but that's more of a shot at a the presidency than not even winning the primary.....

Posted by pjgoober | December 12, 2007 3:21 PM

The only reason Duncan Hunter is the only person who hasn't had their moment-in-the-sun is because he hasn't dropped out yet. It's hardly like Jim Gilmore or Tommy Thompson or Sam Brownback had their moments, each of them simply realized that their moment wasn't coming ever and dropped out instead.

So you can look at this one of three ways: either Hunter is about to get his moment-in-the-sun, or he's about to drop out, or neither. My vote is for c.

Posted by msmackle | December 12, 2007 3:57 PM

Is there some rule that you can't declare a running mate until after the primaries?

If there is, then Reagan broke it in 1976 when he named Senator Richard Schweiker of Pennsylvania as his running mate prior to the convention (in a failed attempt to appeal to northeastern Republicans -- perhaps the last time the GOP tried that little gambit).

Matt, I'm just waiting for Duncan to play LSU. It's going to be upset-tastic.

Posted by Michael Bérubé | December 12, 2007 4:09 PM

Did I miss the Tancredo boomlet, or is it just impossible to feel sorry for him?

(and kudos to msmackle for reminding us of Brownback, Gilmore, and The Other Thompson. Though not for his cutesy 'three alternatives: A, B, or neither')

Posted by Warren Terra | December 12, 2007 4:45 PM

Michael's right on the running mate issue. Moreover, if Regan had defeated Ford for renomination, as Reagan almost did, running as tickets might be standard practice by now. As some folks may remember, Howard Dean purportedly pitched the idea to Wes Clark to run as a primary ticket, but any such machinations were aborted in the early stages.

One reason Duncan Hunter hasn't got any attention is he's, frankly, not very bright. Another is that he has no discernible single issue like Tancredo or ideological tendency that would otherwise go unrepresented, like Ron Paul. Hunter is an ardent fair trader, but he hasn't proved a compelling messenger for that point on the GOP side.

Posted by Madorsky | December 12, 2007 10:22 PM

Over at TPM, Josh Marshall suggested that Hunter ran to distract attention from those ugly rumors about possible corruption indictments.

http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/010659.php

Now I know that the Repubs have a high tolerance for corrupt public officials, but even Hunter may be too tainted for their tastes.

Posted by Jeff S. | December 12, 2007 11:53 PM