Opinion: Hunter to withdraw? Nope, he fools us

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UPDATE -- Our apologies to Duncan Hunter. He used the ‘major announcement’ we got notice about earlier -- and assumed, wrongly, meant he would be folding his presidential tent -- to decry his exclsuion from the pair of Republican candidate debates this weekend.

‘Who do they think they are?’ he said of media big shots. He also noted that he won a delegate from the caucuses in Wyoming on Saturday, which puts him ahead of Rudy Giuliani in that category. And he said he would remain a candidate ‘no matter what happens’ in New Hampshire’s Tuesday primary.

All signs point to a poor showing for Hunter. But he hopes that his emphasis on defense and national security issues might give him a boost in the South Carolina primary later this month.

Manchester, N.H. -- California’s own Duncan Hunter, ostensibly a Republican candidate for president, has scheduled a ‘major announcement’ at 11 a.m. (PST) ‘regarding the future of his presidential bid.’

It’s hard to imagine he will be saying anything other than his campaign for the Republican nomination has no future and that he is withdrawing.

Hunter, a House member from the San Diego area respected on Capitol Hill for his expertise in defense matters, campaigned very little in Iowa, saying he was focusing on New Hampshire. But, with little money or support, he’s been nonexistent in the state these last few days.

He’ll be making his announcement at a hotel in downtown Manchester. He previously announced that he won’t be seeking reelection to the House seat he first won in 1980. (His son hopes to replace him.)

-- Don Frederick