Republican Hunter announces 2008 White House bid

WASHINGTON, Jan 25 (Reuters) Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter of California formally launched a longshot White House bid today with a pledge to strengthen the military and protect American workers from unfair trade practices.

Hunter, a 26-year veteran of the U.S. Congress and former chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, endorsed President George W. Bush's plan to send more troops to Iraq and said ''it has a good chance to work.'' ''In Iraq, our success hangs in the balance, but the proposition that expanding freedom is an American interest cannot be argued,'' Hunter said in Spartanburg, South Carolina, where he launched his campaign. Speech excerpts were made available in Washington.

Hunter, a conservative who co-authored legislation to build a fence along the U.S.-Mexico border, enters the Republican presidential race as a distinct underdog in a field of at least eight candidates led by Arizona Sen. John McCain and former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.

Hunter has targeted South Carolina, which holds an early primary and has been friendly to conservative Republican candidates. He hopes to appeal to conservative activists who wield great influence in the Republican nomination race and have not been enthusiastic about McCain and Giuliani.

In South Carolina, Hunter said he would protect U.S. companies against what he called unfair trade practices by countries such as China.

He said China's trade and currency policies amounted to ''cheating'' and ''if we put up with it we are disserving not only business and workers but our security.'' ''As president, I will make sure our businesses and workers have a level playing field,'' he said. ''I will do this because our security is at stake.'' Hunter raised about 0,000 with his campaign launch, spokesman Roy Tyler said.

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