Is it time to consider Huntsman?

Business Insider ^ | 11/1/11 | Michael Brendan Dougherty

[coffeehays]

Are you a Republican looking for a more viable alternative to Mitt Romney? Has the cratering of Rick Perry left you feeling hopeless? Do the scandals afflicting Herman Cain make you think he isn't all that electable? Well, there is still a very electable conservative in the race! Surprise it is Jon Huntsman! He has been branded a moderate by the press and by people in his campaign. But take a look at his record and see if it doesn't warm your heart.

[coffeehays]

What specifically are you referring to that makes him so liberal? Didn’t Cain describe abortion as a personal decision families will make? that seems pretty liberal to me. I hear a lot of noise but what policy besides global warming makes him liberal? I’m willing to concede he’s liberal but all I hear are ad hominem attacks, but where on the issues is he different than Gingrich?

[Cringing Negativism Network]

You’ve heard of the tea party movement.

Huntsman could lead the milquetoast party.

[DustyMoment]

Are you a Republican looking for a more viable alternative to Mitt Romney?

No. I'm a conservative looking for a more viable alternative to itt Romney . . . . . and Herman Cain . . . . . and Rick Santorum . . . . . . and Jon Huntsman.

Currently, Newt's profile is rising on my radar and I'm keeping my options open on Perry and Bachmann.

[coffeehays]

I like Newt a lot. I enjoy him in the debates and he seems like a thoughtful guy. I think he’s personal life is a negative and I’m still disappointed in his hesitancy to support Paul Ryan’s plan. But there’s a lot to like there.

[ICCtheWay]

Huntsman is a Liberal Democrat posing as a Republican - what does your post have to do with Republicans - Conservative Republicans ?

[FredZarguna]

Hunt, hunt, hunt
He's the Huntsman
"Into action" is his cry
From the forest to the city
He will run there in a jiffy
To sock evil in the eye

Marty Feeb was a poor hunter
Hungry without dough
'Til the day he saved a chunky elf
From being eaten by a crow
The elf rewarded Marty Feeb
With a magic sack of corn
He gained strength and speed and shiny teeth
And as the Huntsman was reborn

Hunt, hunt, hunt
He's the Huntsman
He'll whip the pants off the bad guys
If there's an emergency
Sound the Horn of Urgency
And summon the Huntsman
"Into action" is his cry!
Hunt.

For best Freakazoid! supporting character, I say YES!

For President, no, absolutely not.

[astuddis]

He has no shot at the nomination, so why consider him?

[CharlesWayneCT]

You are misreading that article. Cain was the public spokesperson for America’s PAC, which is has been around since the 1980s. The PAC was spending a million dollars.

The PAC was funded by big-time republican donors like J. Patrick Rooney. I don’t know how much money Cain gave to the PAC; But given that Cain’s net worth in 2006 wasn’t much more than a million dollars total, it is clear he didn’t spend a million dollars of his own money.

I tried searching all the relevant documents from the PAC in 2006, and found no individual donations from anybody named “CAIN”. But Cain had his own pac/organization, and I guess he could have given money in an org-to-org transfer.

Still, it’s nice to see Cain did something for the pro-life cause. But Rick Perry actually has a solid record of pro-life accomplishments. He has passed multiple pieces of pro-life legislation.

Just a few: parental notification, parental consent, defunding planned parenthood, a “choose life” license plate (I don’t really like the license plate business, but he did it), support for adoption, a sonogram law, and of course he has spoken at major pro-life conventions.

I don’t know anything about Huntsman.

[campaignPete R-CT]

I hereby appoint you to be Chairman of the Huntsman Fan Club at Freeper. You have one dues-paying member. Guess who that is?

[coffeehays]

I guess I would say just calling him a “liberal democrat” doesn’t necessarily make him a liberal democrat. What policy is he liberal on? Yes, I will give you anthropological global warming and some gay rights, but he has cut taxes repeatedly, signed so many pro-life bills that the Salt Lake City Tribune heavily criticized him for it, has come out against renewing the The Clinton Gun Ban, is for drastically reducing taxes at a national level, has an astounding energy plan, and doesn’t have any old votes to hide from. Is the fact that he worked for this White House as Ambassador to China completely discredit him? If so, would it also preclude General Petraeus?

[coffeehays]

I don’t contest Perry’s record on life. Not one bit. I do worry about his ability to effectively communicate conservative ideals, whether it be a speech or a debate. I also think Obama would pound him in a general.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Huntsman is boring. And he “sounds moderate” in the debates, regardless of his real positions. I’m not phased by him, I simply have never really considered him a viable candidate. I don’t think I’d hate the idea of him being our nominee as much as Romney, but he’s never going to be the nomimee. Unless I guess all our other candidates go to an event and get food poisoning and die or something like that.

[TBP]

Huntsman is an even worse RINO than Romney. And he’d lose badly.

[coffeehays]

That’s a fair criticism. I agree he has flubbed the debates and for some reason, shies away from his stronger positions but hasn’t in one-on-one interviews.

[mouske]

“He has no shot...”

That’s an amusing comment about someone named Huntsman.

[truth_seeker]

“Jon Huntsman served under Reagan, Bush Sr. and Jr. as well as being Ambassador to China under the current admninistration.
FReepers dismiss him for that last bit, typically, thoughtlessly.

I think the guy’s credentials blow away everyone else’s with the possible exception of Newt’s.”

Ran a tight ship fnancially, as Governor. On that Johnston has the best record.

But for the most part this campaign has been about Gotchas, at the expense of serious talk about the financial crises this nation faces.

[newzjunkey]

I didn't know Huntsman before he announced.

I watched the announcement, I watched an exploratory appearance in NH where he paraded his Chinese-born daughter out like a circus freak on parade, I watched an address he gave related to his ambassadorship.

Huntsman has said a few good things in the debates but he's registers as creepy and smug (not unlike his old boss).

Frankly, at this point, I'd like to hear more from Huntsman on policy and fewer attacks on others by Santorum and Bachmann. They're boorish.

Having burned through the rest of the field, I'm looking at Newt as the non-Romney.

[Waywardson]

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA....

No !

[Tredegar]

You are, of course, completely correct, coffeehays. Nobody is going to find a candidate they agree with on 100% of the issues. People should ignore (as best they can) the media’s fascination with labels, and make their own mind up.

Jon Huntsman is a talented guy with a remarkable record. To merely dismiss him as a ‘RINO’ is unfair and not consistent with the facts. If people disagree with him on Civil Unions (he agrees with George W Bush on this essentially) or Climate Change (ditto Newt Gingrich) or the fact that he worked as an Ambassador under the current Administration (he also worked for Reagan, HW Bush and W Bush) then that is fair enough. But there is also this:

A strong Pro-Life record. Huntsman signed pro-life laws as Utah Governor. Unlike Romney, Huntsman has been CONSISTENTLY pro-life.

Superb record on Gun Rights. He expanded the rights of Utah gun owners and abolished some concealed-carry restrictions.

Signed the largest tax cut in Utah history.

A successful governor of Utah. The state was hailed as Number 1 in job creation (Romney’s was ranked 47th) and the Pew Center named it ‘The Best Managed State in the Country’ under Huntsman’s tenure.

The only candidate in the Republican race with active foreign policy experience. There was a machiavellian reason, in my opinion, why Obama appointed Huntsman as ambassador to China - to get him out of the 2012 race. Well, that has backfired. He’s back and more qualified than ever. If Huntsman wins the nomination, then Obama is finished.

So, don’t vote for Huntsman, and certainly ridicule him and his positions whenever you wish, but the guy is clearly a Republican. A successful Republican too. A Republican that scares the hell out of Obama.

I don’t think he has a shot at the nomination, but I think Rick Perry supporters, in particular, should hope that Huntsman does well in New Hampshire and wounds Romney there. His numbers are creeping up in the Granite State.

[who knows what evil?]

College twits in New England are big fans of Huntsman...that’s all I need to know. No Huntsman, no way...