Duncan Hunter Announces Presidential Bid

Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-San Diego) has announced plans to run for the Republican nomination for President:

SAN DIEGO — Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said Monday he will run for president in 2008.

"This is going to be a long road, it's a challenging road, there's going to be some rough and tumble, but I think it's the right thing to do for our country," Hunter, who has represented the 52nd Congressional District in San Diego County for 26 years, said at a waterfront press conference.

The declaration allows the California congressman to begin raising money and organize supporters in early Republican primary states such as Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

Hunter's bid surprised some Republican leaders in Washington. He had not been discussed as one of the many candidates considering a presidential bid, including Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Hunter is a very long shot when faced with the three challengers named above, but he could make the primaries a little more exciting. With Hunter you get an unabashed conservative who carries none of the baggage with the conservative wing of the party that the other three guys do. Romney's pretty conservative too, but the Mormon thing's gonna be a problem for him. McCain seems to be a part-time conservative who is often more interested in playing to the media than to the conservative base, and Giuliani is pretty liberal on a lot of social issues. With Hunter approaching from the right of McCain and Giuliani, it could push both of those guys further right than they might otherwise have gone.

Hey, at this point, I'm not incredibly impressed with any of them, so bring on some additional challengers and maybe we'll find one who can both win the election, and act like a conservative after he's elected.