Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-California, a longshot candidate for the GOP presidential nomination, has a guest-blog post at PoliPundit regarding the unconscionable prosecution and conviction of two American border guards who shot a Mexican illegal alien drug dealer...

We cannot turn our back on Agents Compean and Ramos or the rest of the public servants in the U.S. Border Patrol and that’s why I urge George Bush to pardon both agents. I intend to keep attention focused on this case to insure their safety while they are in prison and to secure their release as soon as possible so they can return home to their families. That is also why I introduced H.R. 563, which would pardon Compean and Ramos. The bill already has more than 85 sponsors in the House. If that bill fails and President Bush does not do the right thing, I pledge that if I’m elected President, one of my first acts will be to grant pardons to both agents.

Hunter is one of several lesser-known Republicans trying to pull themselves up to the status of conservative challenger to the main field seeking the GOP nomination, and Hunter's doing it by presenting himself as the "Ronald Reagan conservative" in the race.

There's some thin evidence that he might be gaining some traction: Hunter tied John McCain and Rudy Giuliani in a "straw poll" in Spartanburg, S.C., over the weekend. Like I said, it's thin evidence - a straw poll in a single county in South Carolina. Still, he got more votes there than former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, or former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

You can find out more about Hunter's campaign for the presidency at his website.