In a kickoff speech to about 250 supporters at a rally here, the Alpine Republican did not spare the Bush administration. He accused a recent high-level delegation to Beijing led by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke of appeasement for failing to take the Chinese leadership to task for illegally manipulating its currency to gain an unfair advantage in trade with the United States.

Hunter made an earlier announcement of his campaign intentions in October on San Diego's waterfront. He billed his appearance here as his formal announcement. South Carolina is an early primary state with a strongly conservative, protectionist, anti-abortion, pro-military tradition, particularly among Republicans.

Hunter, 58, faces long odds as perhaps the least known candidate in a large and growing field of contenders for the GOP presidential nomination. But he appears to be betting on South Carolina's early primary next year as an opportunity to post a strong showing that would boost him into contention.

Appealing to the party's conservative base, he attacked what he said were trade deals, warned about China's mounting military might and voiced support for President Bush's troop surge in Iraq. He also promised to toughen border security and pledged to appoint anti-abortion judges to the federal bench.

Hunter cited his service on the House Armed Services Committee – including a four-year stint as chairman that ended three weeks ago – as having helped to reverse the policies of the Clinton administration, which he blamed in part for the deterioration of the armed services. He noted his personal background as a Vietnam combat veteran and as the son of one Marine and the father of another.

Listing various security threats, Hunter said, “We have lots of problems. We're going to have to work on those. We're going to have to look over the horizon. But you know something? We can do it. We can do it with a policy of peace through strength. And, ladies and gentlemen, I want to lead that policy of peace through strength.”

Afterward, Roger Milliken, 91, a textile magnate, applauded Hunter, citing his stance against trade agreements many here have blamed for the loss of factory jobs to lower-cost rivals overseas.

“What's happened is that we've lost 3 million manufacturing jobs over the last six years. That's a disaster,” said Milliken, a prominent bankroller of conservative Republican causes. “Nobody is worried about how we defend our manufacturing strength and our middle class – Duncan Hunter understands that.”

Many of those attending paid $250 into the coffers of the fledgling campaign, but others were invited as guests, and campaign officials did not have a final figure on how much the event grossed.

Hunter's official entry into the race yesterday was recorded by a bank of television cameras representing most of the broadcast media outlets in the area. Later in the day, Hunter appeared on CNN and Fox News before heading to Charleston, S.C., for events there today and in Myrtle Beach, S.C., tomorrow.

Hunter is then scheduled to campaign in New Hampshire, site of the nation's first primary, before heading back to Washington. The South Carolina primary next year will occur early, on Jan. 27, right after caucuses in Iowa and Nevada and the New Hampshire contest.

His strategists say that South Carolina may be fertile ground for his message, given the battering its textile industry has suffered from foreign competition over recent years and the large number of military installations. It also boasts a large population of retired military veterans.

At a time when a number of prominent Republicans, including another presidential candidate, Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, are opposing Bush's move to bolster U.S. forces in Baghdad by 21,500 additional troops, Hunter sided definitively with the president.

“In Iraq, freedom hangs in the balance,” he said.

But he had harsh words for the delegation to China that he said balked at pressing the currency issue with high-ranking members of the Chinese government.

“I thought that Republicans didn't appease communists, and that's what we did,” he said.

“Today starts the time for choosing – for every American manufacturer and laborer. You can either choose to give into China's cheating – or you can choose to join me to enforce fair trade.”