Posted on 12/01/2011 12:19:30 PM PST by St. Louis Conservative
Jon Huntsman is rising in New Hampshire. If Huntsman comes back in New Hampshire, he is in the game. Heres the funny thing about Jon Huntsman. His record as a Governor is more conservative than Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney combined. He is more pro-life than either of them. He is more economically wedded to the free market than either of them. He has better foreign policy experience than either of them. Huntsman should be a conservative hero in this race.
But he is not because of his own campaigns doing. The campaign made a conscious choice to give the middle finger to conservatives early on. Huntsman decided to cast himself as the moderate in the race go to the left of Romney. I think his campaign thought Romney would run right. Instead they both tried to run up the center and Huntsman got to the left. He also, maybe he cant help himself, comes off as too condescending to a lot of primary voters. His attitude rubs people wrong in South Carolina and Iowa.
Whats so tragic about the Huntsman race is that he has the boldest free market economic recovery plan. He has the most pro-life record of anyone in the race other than Rick Perry. He has the best jobs creation record of anyone in the race with the possible exception of Rick Perry. And he has run away from all of that to be the guy who doesnt offend the women of The View.
(Excerpt) Read more at redstate.com ...
thanks for your post.
Craziest primary in my memory. And I’m old.
Huntsman is also the only GOP candidate who has carried Obama’s water. And he would have the same Mormon baggage, to some, as Romney does.
How do you explain away Huntsman joining the Obama administration? I see Erick doesn’t address that at all.
I’m not opposed to taking another look at Huntsman. I surely haven’t found anyone I’m gung-ho about since Sarah dropped out. But I would like so see this glaring issue answered first.
I saw an interview someone did with Huntsman and I wondered, “What’s wrong with this guy?” His answers to questions were spot on, he has the look of a president and I think he has a certain populist appeal. I wondered why he was not catching on. I did not watch any debate he was in.
Huntsman as conservative?
Is that why he worked for the Obama administration?
What’s scary is a thred that was on here a couple of days ago saying that Huntsman would not rule out a Third Party run. His daddy has enough money to finance a campaign that would get, at least, 5 percent of the vote; and, as close as this election is going to be, that could throw the election and give Obozo four more years in the White House. But, he would be the most hated man in America.
Huntsman = Romney
Two arrogant wealthy prima donnas who feel entitled to the presidency.
Being an ambassador is not working directly for the Administration. Although it is a job usually awarded to political cronies and supporters.
But he has to be politically naive to think that running as more moderate than Mitt would get him anywhere in the Republican primaries. But that could come from his being from Utah where just being Republican gets you elected.
I remain an agnostic on Huntsman. But he gets the blame for his cold reception.
That comment was taken out of context. Huntsman later revised that statement to make it clear that he will not run a third party. Of course, that wasn’t reported widely.
Fascinaing.
There are in fact some conservative freepers who support Huntsman. They don’t say so openly; but they do.
I’m not one of them. But I do think this is worth considering.....(maybe only for a second or two...but still, worth considering).
Huntsman is nothing like Romney other than they’re both Mormon. In fact, there’s no love lost between the two.
And who cares if Huntsman is rich? That sounds like an Occupy Wall Street “us against them” screed.
Erik took over Herman Cain's radio show on WSB Atlanta when Herman resigned to run for POTUS and he has discussed Huntman/Obama extensively there. He said it was a mistake to join the Obama administration but once you do join you're expected to be part of the team. He slams Huntsman as a backstabber for hinting about running for the Presidency while he was ambassador to China and turning himself into the story rather than the administration's policies which, like it or not, he volunteered to administer. I get the impression that while Erikson may like some of Huntsman's political views he personally see him as a weasel who has no chance of winning.
As for Erikson himself I get a laugh whenever I hear him brag about being the mst influential conservative with the most influential website in America, claiming to be the go-to guy for anybody who is tuned into the pulse of American politics. All this time I thought he was the token conservative CNN used to pretend they have some sort of balance. As long as FR exists I have no reason at all to even look at RedState.
I have observed Huntsman from closeup here in Utah. He is ok on economics, but he did sign onto the “western governors alliance to combat climate change” - and then bragged about it. We also had to import Mitt Romney to run our 2002 Salt Lake Olympics when it was floundering in scandal. I’m pretty sure Huntsman would have as liberal a record as Romney if he were governor of a liberal state as opposed to Utah where you can govern as a conservative with no significant opposition.
Anyone but the Grinch or the Myth. Both will be destroyed by Zero.
Here you go (I took out the word “wealthy”):
Huntsman = Romney
Two arrogant prima donnas who feel entitled to the presidency.
Your evaluation and Erick’s provide some thinking points but still don’t make up for Huntsman’s diplomatic time in the One’s administration. If he really had a fire in his belly for conservative principles and higher office, he would have bypassed that and launched into full-on election organizing because he knew Mittens already had an organization in place. It wasn’t like he needed the job or the $$$. I’m trying to keep an open mind, especially for newcomers with credentials like Huntsman, but he has done himself no favors with many voters.
I wish him well in NH, especially if a good showing or victory creates a roadblock for Mittens.
Huntsman is widely considered one of the best ambassadors to China in history but rendered less effective in many ways as a result of administration shenanigans and waning US influence directly linked to Obama policies. It wasn’t like he went into the job with a crystal ball forecasting precisely how the president would fail with the evil intent of leaving 6 months early and running for 2012. I don’t get what seems so incomprehensible about that to most people.
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