The author can't even put Hunter's name in the headline. Geez!

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepubli ... ccain.html

Franks backs a McCain rival for White House

Billy House
Republic Washington Bureau
Dec. 29, 2006 12:00 AM

WASHINGTON - One of Arizona's most conservative U.S. House members is endorsing a California congressman over Sen. John McCain for the 2008 GOP presidential nomination, saying it is "what's right for America."

"I think the senator knows there's nothing personal on my part," Rep. Trent Franks said of his support of Rep. Duncan Hunter. Hunter, outgoing chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, begins his 14th term next month as a congressman from the San Diego area.

Franks said he already has stumped alongside Hunter, who advocates in favor of strong military and for border security. Hunter announced the formation of his presidential exploratory committee in October.
Craig Goldman, a spokesman for McCain's presidential exploratory committee, had no comment on Franks' endorsement.

Franks said he knows that his early backing of the lesser-known Hunter will raise eyebrows, given that his own state's senior senator is considering a run for the White House.

But without criticizing McCain directly, Franks described Hunter as a candidate who "is an unequivocal social conservative and fiscal conservative and has a consistent conservative voting record."

"He is one of the true Reagan Revolutionaries in Congress," Franks said.

McCain is considered a leading candidate for the 2008 GOP nomination. His contrary positions on issues important to conservatives, including campaign finance, the environment, judicial nominees and gun control, have led to strained relations with some in the party. But for more than a year, McCain has been saddling up more often with President Bush and reaching out to the hard-core Republican base and Religious Right.

Hunter was one of a few House members to endorse McCain in the 2000 GOP presidential primaries, although he voiced objection to McCain's attack on evangelical leaders. Franks was not a member of Congress then.

Sen. Jon Kyl and Rep. Jeff Flake, two of Arizona's four other Republicans in the new Congress that begins next week, said Thursday that they are backing McCain. Reps. John Shadegg and Rick Renzi could not be reached.

"I will play whatever role he asks me to play," Kyl said of McCain.

"It's a poor secret that I will be endorsing him," Flake said. As for Franks' endorsement of Hunter, Flake said "that's certainly his choice; McCain is not going to have a heavy hand here."

Franks' decision to endorse Hunter over his fellow Arizonan is not much of a blow to McCain, one analyst said.

"Trent Franks seems to be acting on principle because he's certainly not going with the easy winner," said David Mark, politics editor at a new Capitol Hill newspaper and Web site that will launch next month. "Most people haven't heard of Duncan Hunter, nor have they heard of Trent Franks, with all due respect."

Franks described Hunter as "a bold, Valley Forge, Ronald Reagan Republican who holds the temperament and philosophical foundations to lead this country to its greatest heights yet."

He noted that Hunter, a Vietnam War veteran and recipient of the Bronze Star, also is "an expert in national defense and matters surrounding the war on terror, as much as anyone in Congress." As Armed Services chairman, Hunter has had a big say on military issues. But he loses that post when Democrats take control of the House.

Franks, who is entering his third term in Congress, has worked with Hunter as a member of that committee.

McCain, himself a decorated Vietnam veteran, will be the ranking Republican on the Senate's Armed Services Committee in the new Congress and is viewed as an expert on defense issues.

Franks noted that Hunter played a leading role in legislation calling for a fence, which is nearing construction, along the U.S.-Mexican border near San Diego, and co-authored legislation to extend that fence as much as 700 miles, including into Arizona.

McCain voted in favor of the fence.

When Hunter announced the formation of his exploratory committee in San Diego, Franks was the only member of Congress to appear at the event.

"Looking at the makeup of the (GOP presidential) field right now, I see an awful lot of room on the conservative side of the ledger," Franks said.

"When people understand who Duncan Hunter is, he will go from long shot to someone people will be paying a whole lot of attention to."

And if that doesn't happen?

"If Senator McCain gains the momentum, I will adopt him," Franks said. "In the meantime, I'm endorsing Duncan Hunter."