Yes, it’s only a straw poll, but not many folks thought anyone but the supposed big three would be faring well, even at this early juncture. All of a sudden Duncan Hunter’s picture is being shown alongside McCain’s and Giuliani’s. Check out Fox News. The latest from the AP on the South Carolina contest:
John McCain Pulls Even With Rudy Giuliani, Duncan Hunter in South Carolina Straw Poll
Sen. John McCain pulled even with two of his Republican rivals when counting resumed Friday morning in a presidential straw poll in conservative Spartanburg County.
Though most of the roughly 800 votes were counted on Thursday night, ballots tallied Friday morning weighed heavily in McCain’s favor, said GOP county chairman Rick Beltram.
The updated count put McCain in a dead heat with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and California Rep. Duncan Hunter. Beltram would not release any specific numbers and said a final tally would be known Friday afternoon.
The count was suspended because of severe weather that swept across South Carolina.
With 81 of 92 precincts reporting Thursday night, Giuliani garnered 158 votes. Hunter was a close second with 152 votes and McCain was third with 116 votes, according to county GOP officials.
Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback had 83 votes, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had 80 votes and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee rounded out the front-runners with 21 votes.
Beltram blamed the low turnout on the weather.
And, this from a Hunter supporter (excerpted):
Duncan’s vote was overtaking Giuliani’s when the count was stopped due to bad weather. Final results this P.M. He may have actually won this!
This answers the question, "who is Hunter?" and puts Duncan right up with Giuliani despite the fact that he had little money to spend as opposed to big bucks spent by McCain and Romney to win this.
Duncan is definitely on the map. If he can raise a few million in the next 90 days, he can do it. The New Hampshire debate in April is critical.