Look Fast, Before He's Gone

In my continuing series of reviewing first impressions and surface level qualifications of the 2008 field, I will stay with the Republicans for the moment, and look at one of the extreme dark horse candidates, Duncan Hunter.

If you have ever heard of Duncan Hunter, you are a political geek. If you thought "Duncan Hunter" was a phony porn star name I just made up, you probably have more company. The guy's been in the House for almost 27 years (California), and I can't think of a signature piece of legislation with his name on it. You have to work very hard to remain anonymous for that long. His innovative solution to the complex problems that face our great nation? Build a really big fence down south. OK, but in 27 years, perhaps some other issue might have captured his attention.

He also is selling his credentials on defense, having served as Chairperson of the Armed Services Committee. He was one of the first candidates during a Republican debate to give an enthusiastic "yes" to a question about the use of tactical nuclear weapons against Iran (maybe I should call him "Rep. Duck N. Cover"). I can understand leaving all options on the table in a public debate, but he was frankly a bit too giddy about the prospect of having an excuse to drop a nuclear weapon in the Middle East. He is clearly going for the "Pack of Marlboro Reds Rolled in My Sleeve" crowd.

Here's another fun fact about Duncan Hunter: he's an apologist for Ann Coulter. He was quoted on screen in an interview saying that Coulter was "closely approaching that level of being a great American". In fact, Coulter says that Hunter is her first choice for President. This is the same Ann Coulter who wrote " "We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity", and said that the 9-11 widows are happy about the deaths of their husbands, and that John Edwards is purposely exploiting the death of his oldest son for political gain. Yup, she really adds to the public discourse. Quite the role model, a regular Ted Kaczynski with a microphone.

I actually don't have much more to say about Hunter, except the odds of seeing him in NH are slim. I can't see how the money will hold up for him, considering he's paying for round trip tickets from southern CA every time he travels. And if Ann Coulter is his friend, I can't risk exposing Marra to that kind of ugly speech.

Next!

JS