Lutz’s last supper before the Hunter hunger strike

San Diego City Beat (2010-08-13) Dave Maass

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Lutz’s last supper before the Hunter hunger strike

Usually, when Ray Lutz goes to Greek Style Chicken in El Cajon, he gets the lemon chicken. Last night, he ordered a Greek salad because his research concluded that you shouldn’t meat before a hunger strike. Actually, he says, you should pretty much only eat fruits and vegetables in the week leading up to a hunger strike, but he’s a sucker for bread and he had a slice of garlic bread with his dinner.

Lutz, a Democratic candidate for Congress, really wants the opportunity to debate U.S. Rep. Duncan Hunter. I mean, who wouldn’t? Hunter isn’t known as the sharpest-tongued member of the House. Meanwhile, Lutz is best known for leading the opposition to the proposed and failed Blackwater training facility in East County, so he’s particularly at an advantage when it comes to challenging Hunter’s legacy ties to the defense industry.

Lutz has hand-delivered letters to Hunter’s office requesting a series of eight debates and received no response. As a result, Lutz stopped eating last night and officially kicks off his hunger strike at an event tonight at the Prescott Promenade Park near his office at 165 E. Main St. in El Cajon. He’ll then pull a David Blaine and sit in an “isolation booth” until Hunter agrees to face off. Actually, that isolation booth is more like a table under a canopy, but anyway—we’ll see how long Lutz lasts; he says he’s already feeling a bit light-headed.

“I don’t think I’m going to reach the point of hospitalization or have to be rolled out on a hospital bed—even though I’m in a cot right now because I was feeling kind of weak,” Lutz says. “I know that it’s the first three days that are the hard part and then after that you kind of lose interest in food, you stop being hungry all the time, your body just adapts. But getting through those first three days are tough. I know it’s going to be hard, but I’ve done hard things before.”

In my opinion, eight debates are way too many: I’d rather swear off sushi for six months than drive all over the county for eight of those things. Why not just do two or three and stream ‘em or video conference them or whatever? I mean, I don’t even think Hunter has eight debates’ worth of shit to say.

“I don’t even think he has one debate worth of things to say,” Lutz tells me. The more important thing, he says, is having the debates all over the 52nd district, which is pretty damn big. Lutz wants to hammer Hunter on issues ranging from his father’s (former Congressman Duncan Lee Hunter) connection to the Duke Cunningham scandal to his votes on job-related bills.

Thankfully, Lutz’s campaign manager Brennan K. Purtzer says the candidate is willing to negotiate on the number, provided they get in touch. Hunter’s staff told the San Diego Union-Tribunethat he would probably agree to one debate—in October. Early voting begins at on Oct. 11. That’s pretty late in the game, perhaps too late: Mail ballots start going out on Oct. 4.Thankfully, Lutz’s campaign manager Brennan K. Purtzer says the candidate is willing to negotiate on the number, provided they get in touch. Hunter’s staff told the San Diego Union-Tribunethat he would probably agree to one debate—in October. Early voting begins at on Oct. 11. That’s pretty late in the game, perhaps too late: Mail ballots start going out on Oct. 4.