Duncan Hunter at the CLC ‘07

October 14, 2007 by Jenn Sierra
Filed under Uncategorized

I had an opportunity to listen to Duncan Hunter speak at the Conservative Leadership Conference in Reno, NV, on Friday Night at a Townhall Meeting, and on Saturday, to the convention. Among the crowd of approximately 50 at the Townhall meeting were CLC convention attendees, as well as attendees to the Nevada Republican Women’s conference, and an NRA convention. Saturday, the crowd numbered approximately 150, which was less than had attended Mitt Romney’s talk the day before. However, the people who did attend both events seemed overwhelmingly enthusiastic, welcoming, and supportive for Duncan Hunter. He received much very loud applause, and a few standing ovations, with the majority of the crowd standing at the convention address.

The talking points were very much the same at both events, and focused on the national security, and international trade. He listed his top priorities as building the border fence, building up the American military, and keeping industry in the United States.

On national security, “I’ll build that border fence, all 850 miles of it, in six months. That’s my commitment to you.” He also mentioned that an important part of immigration reform was to deport illegal residents, and mentioned that as of 2005, 155,000 of those captured entering the U.S. illegally over the southern border were not from Mexico or South America…they were from countries like China, North Korea, and Iran. On Iran, he promised that if he is president, “I will not allow Iran to build a nuclear weapon.” Regarding the view of the United States by the rest of the world, due to tough decisions made to protect our country, he recalled the good things the U.S. has done for so many countries in the world in terms of financial and military support, and proclaimed, “I will never apologize for the United States of America!”

On trade, “For people who say, ‘I want to get rid of the Federal deficit,’ I say, ‘Get rid of the trade deficit’.” He said he especially wants to keep China from, “Cheating on Trade.”

He quoted Ronald Reagan, as saying, when he saved Harley Davidson, “When one side breaks the rules, there is no free trade.” He advocated for changing the current trade agreements to ones that are “mirror” type of agreements, so that the United States is able to charge the same tariff as the country we are trading with.

In response to questions from the audience, he said on education reform, “I like the idea of charter schools, and private schools,” on freedom of religion, he recalled that he wrote the legislation that was finally signed by Barbara Boxer and Nancy Pelosi to save the Mt. Soledad Cross, and on appointing conservative to the Supreme Court proclaimed, “If a judicial candidate can look at a sonogram of an unborn child, and not see a valuable life, then I would not appoint that judicial candidate to the bench.”

Hunter explained his father was one of the most important influences in his life, that his son, “Dunc” was serving a second tour in Iraq while simultaneously running for local office, and that his grandson, “D3,” recently started first grade, and introduced himself to his teacher this way: “My name is Duncan Hunter. My Grandpa is going t be president.” He then stuck out his hand, and said, “Now, can I count on your vote?”

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