Duncan Hunter Q&A in the WAPO

Question from Kensington, Md.: I'm actually a Democrat, but a general political junkie as well. I keep looking at this GOP field, then at Rep. Hunter's bio, and have to scratch my head. You've got a son fighting in Iraq, were instrumental in building a border wall (at a time when immigration is supposedly a hot-button issue) and your stances and voting record seem conservative down-the-line (even if I disagree with them). Yet, you are stuck in low single digits behind a pro-choice anti-gun New Yorker, a Massachusetts governor who once tried to out-liberal Ted Kennedy, a version of John McCain to be named later and someone whose main apparent qualification is that he has played the president in a movie. Besides the obvious fundraising hurdles, what gives? Why aren't you getting traction?

Rep. Duncan Hunter: I would just say that as a member of Congress, getting your name and your positions to hundreds of millions of Americans takes a lot of hard work. Right now we are engaged in a very vigorous campaign. We won the Texas Straw Poll by more than two to one a couple of weeks ago, 41 percent points over the next highest contender, Fred Thompson, who had 20 percent. We also won the Arizona straw poll and moved past John McCain into fourth in a Michigan poll. These reflect the substance of and appreciation for my positions, despite the differences in money and name identification. So we're very optimistic and we're campaigning hard and I feel the message has a strong resonance with the American people.

Go read it all here.

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