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Hunter out to capture White House
Posted 2/1/2007 10:16 PM ET
By William M. Welch, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES — Rep. Duncan Hunter sees his opening in the race for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination as the conservative's conservative.
"I believe strongly in this nation that we can have a new American sunrise of opportunity, faith and freedom," he says. "I think this is a time for the type of leadership I can offer."

Hunter, 58, is a veteran congressman from eastern San Diego County who chaired the House Armed Services Committee for the last four of the dozen years that Republicans controlled the House of Representatives.

That job made him well-known to Capitol insiders and a favorite of defense contractors, who found in him a staunch supporter of the Pentagon and of high-tech weapons systems.

He lost his chairmanship when Democrats won control of the House in November. He made his presidential candidacy official last month, basing it on three principles:

•A hard line on illegal immigration.

•Cracking down on countries, mainly China, that he says are killing American manufacturing with unfair trade policies.

•Unwavering support for a strong military and for the war in Iraq, including President Bush's addition of more than 20,000 U.S. troops.

"Over the next five to 10 years, clearly national security is going to be a major focus for our country," Hunter says after being asked why he is running. "I've concentrated on that function of government for the last 26 years in the House of Representatives."

Hunter announced his candidacy last week in South Carolina, one of the earliest primary states. With a big military presence and an apparel and textile industry hit hard by foreign competition, South Carolina will probably be a place where Hunter must do well to gain entry to the top tier of GOP hopefuls.

"He's very much a long shot," says Jack Pitney, professor of government at Claremont McKenna College in California and former head of research for the Republican National Committee. "He sees a niche for a social conservative with a strong defense background," he says. "He's putting a steel beam on the beach and hoping lightning will strike."

Hunter has solid claim to his conservative credentials. He was one of the sponsors of a law Congress passed last year authorizing construction of 700 miles of fencing along much of the U.S.-Mexican border, and he claims credit for fencing already in place along the border at San Diego. He says the millions of immigrants in the USA illegally should be sent home and told to apply for visas if they want to come back.

"As president, I will complete the border fence in six months," he says.

On trade, he accuses China of devaluing its currency to make its goods cheaper in the USA. He says he would tear up trade deals with China and demand more favorable ones. He sees China as a security threat, too.

"China is arming, and they're doing it with American trade dollars," he says.

On Iraq, he firmly supports Bush's decision to go to war. "I think going in was the right thing to do," he says.

Hunter grew up in Riverside, Calif., the son of a conservative activist and home builder who worked for Barry Goldwater's and Richard Nixon's campaigns and lost his own race for Congress in 1968.

In 1980, at age 32, Hunter defeated a Democratic House incumbent as the GOP picked up more than 30 House seats in the election that put Ronald Reagan in the White House.

Hunter dropped out of high school to join the Marines and earned a Bronze Star as helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War. He became a lawyer after leaving the service. A son, Marine 1st Lt. Duncan Duane Hunter, recently returned from a second tour of duty in Iraq.