California Rep. Duncan Hunter to run for President 2008

***Update 6-5-07***

This may be a little unorthodox, but I noticed a link to this post from Free Republic (thank you).  As stated in this post, I was not familiar with Duncan Hunter but when I heard his interview on Pundit Review Radio, I was sold.  I link the interview in this post.

***End update***

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.

I don't know much about Representative Hunter, but I am interested in anyone who can derail McCain and Giuliani. The best thing those two have going for them is name recognition, so if Hunter expects to get enough support for a credible run, he's right in getting started now. A helpful poster at Lucianne provided this link to Hunter's voting record.  It's going to take some time to go through the list, but at first glance it appears he votes with the GOP position most of the time, at least the bills on the first page.  The devil as they say is in the details. (He did split with the party on NAFTA and CAFTA, see below)

The Club for Growth is not impressed.  Andrew Roth:

Since Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-CA) is apparently going to explore the possibility of running for president in 2008, I thought I'd dig up some of his roll call votes. Like most Republicans, he's strong on tax cuts, but he's been part of the big government spending spree of the last 6 years. He also has a protectionist streak in him. Here are some of the more troubling votes:

NO on NAFTA
YES on No Child Left Behind
YES on Sarbanes-Oxley
YES on the 2003 Medicare Drug Benefit
NO on CAFTA
YES on 2005 Highway Bill
YES on the 527 bill (like most Republicans, he flip-flopped, having first voted NO on McCain-Feingold)

Hunter also went 0 for 19 on the Flake anti-pork amendments.
.....

We gave him a 49% on the 2005 Club for Growth scorecard.  That places him 187th within the House GOP conference, out of roughly 230 members.

He gets a C+ from the National Taxpayer's Union.  Link at Club for Growth.

This looks good, however. From the San Fancisco Chronicle,

The Vietnam War veteran, a recipient of a Bronze Star, has made his mark in Congress by advocating for a strong military and border security. He played a leading role in the construction of a 14-mile double fence on the U.S.-Mexico border that is nearing completion in San Diego. He co-authored legislation signed by President Bush last week that would extend the border fence to 700 miles.

I'm just getting really tired of big-spending Republicans.  I think sometimes Republicans think if they vote for tax cuts, they can spend their little hearts out and nobody will notice.

At any rate, based on the positive comments I've read today, I have some homework to do. I feel a little bit out of the loop for not knowing much more about Hunter than his name.  I did know he was a Republican from California. But I don't think those questions will be on the test.