Posted on 02/01/2011 5:32:50 AM PST by Hawk720
From the middle of the article:
People close to Huntsman said Monday that the move marked a stunning reversal from his previous decision to wait on a White House bid until 2016. One friend described it as a "fairly massive change of heart."
But friends and advisers said he had been frustrated with his lack of influence in China after two years on the job and grew to view the potential Republican field as relatively weak.
One adviser said Huntsman made his final decision over the holidays, encouraged by political advisers and potential fundraisers who convinced him that he could win.
Advisers said Huntsman's backers assured him that he could overcome two perceived liabilities with conservative voters who hold sway in GOP primaries and caucuses - his Mormon faith and the fact that he worked for a Democratic president.
Advisers studied the 2008 candidacy of another Mormon, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, and concluded his candidacy was hampered not by his religion but instead by a series of flip-flops on issues such as abortion that gave voters reason to question his authenticity.
Also, advisers said, Huntsman would be portrayed as having a far more distant relationship with the church than Romney. Huntsman can talk about a new law he signed in 2009 making it easier for people to buy drinks in bars.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
..and if Jon Huntsman joins that field, it will grow weaker still.
Is it just a trick of the light in the photo, or is that Rhino wearing a pair of thong panties (size XXXXXXXXXXLL, I would assume)?
“Huntsman can talk about a new law he signed in 2009 making it easier for people to buy drinks in bars.”
Because before this it was really hard for people to buy drinks in bars.
Huntsman was Utah governor - buying drinks in a bar in Utah is a fairly convoluted process. In SLC it can almost be described as a series of secret handshakes.
He needn't bother...he'll never get the Obama stink off him.
Does this mean that he is going to go home to the Democrat Party and challenge Obama in the primary?
Considering what they've done to Sarah Palin, now imagine what they would do to THIS loser...
Well, Sarah Palin has been able to shrug off her relationship with John McCain, for the most part anyway. And it’s not like Huntsman had a position within the administration, he was an Ambassador to a foreign country — a position that often means serving for presidents of both parties, since they aren’t automatically replaced every time a new administration takes office.
I think his position on issues will be a more serious obstacle than being an Ambassador could possibly be.
You know, if Sarah Palin had had an opportunity to be an Ambassador for a couple of years, it might have done wonders toward removing the conception that some voters have of a weakness on foreign policy.
On the plus side for most people here at FR, this certainly wouldn’t help the other Mormon candidate.
Just hire the advisers that make money from your candidacy and they will tell you exactly what you want to hear.
The msm has been pushing this guy for months, but I'd get more primary votes than he would.
Let him jump in, he's harmless.
Good. Let him leave.
He has been NOWHERE in the fight for liberty and the Constitution. Anyone thinking he has a chance to be the Republican nominee in 2012 is nuts.
Those quotes are great (not for Huntsman, but for us). Those two quotes should be pushed by the conservative pundits until every household is aware of them.
That is our “post-partisan” President, talking about a person he chose to work in his administration, chose to be an Ambassador. He is ill-spirited, harsh, cruel even. This President never stops running for office as a partisan hack.
Imagine that, Romney might have a fight on his hands in Utah. Utah could split for someone else? How would this effect NV and the LDS vote?
Shallow Hal.
Huntsman revealed himself to be a rank opportunist in January 2009 when he climbed on board the Obama "Hope and Change" bandwagon and resigned as Utah's governor to accept the ambassador's job. By his calculation, he thought that he could both ingratiate himself with the Obama Administration and then set himself up for a 2016 run by punching his foreign policy ticket in China, safely away from Obama's domestic onslaught.
However, things are not quite working out like Huntsman planned. He thought that Obama would easily win a second term, but now, it's pretty obvious that he's crashing and burning and will almost certainly struggle in 2012, especially if he loses the ME, gas prices hit $10 per gallon, and unemployment remains around 10%.
Moreover, Palin has not buckled under the liberal attacks and remains very strong with the Conservative base. Consequently, Huntsman, who's deluded himself into believing that he can win as a RINO, has realized that he is in danger of missing his boat, and so he is now trying to drop Obama like a hot potato and play catch up with Palin, Romney, Barbour, etc.
Huntsman will resign to become ambassador to China
BTW, to all of the PDS'ers out there, including the MSM, how come she is attacked from all sides for resigning to thwart Pete Rouse's "frivolous lawsuits" crew, but Huntsman gets a pass when he resigns his office to go and work for Hillary Clinton at DOS, and ultimately Obama? Tell me that that's not a double standard.
Oh Please, Oh Please Oh Please do!
Huntsman joining the race will suck the very air out of Myth Romney’s next misguided attempt at POTUS.
Thereby canceling both out.
Plus, he is now resigning the Ambassadorship, after less than 2 years.
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