Five of the nine losing candidates for the Republican presidential nomination — Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson — were given key speaking spots at this convention, but four were left out.
Ron Paul hosted his own event here in Minnesota, though, but Virginia’s senatorial candidate and former Gov. James Gilmore was passed up entirely, as were U.S. Reps. Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter.
Hunter, though, who is retiring at the end of the year, seemed unbothered by what some might have seen as a snub. He was at the convention with his son, also named Duncan, who garnered a strong 72 percent of the vote in winning the Republican primary to fill his father’s seat. The younger Duncan recently returned from his second tour in Iraq and Afghanistan, including service in Fallujah during the first, failed battle for that key Iraqi city.
“My job here is just to play a supporting role for my son,” said the congressman. “And when I get back to Washington, I have one more big challenge, which is to get more assistance to our troops in Afghanistan.”
Hunter, the ranking Republican (and former Chairman) on the House Armed Services Committee, said he is committed to passing an “equipment package” for Afghanistan before he retires.
