Free Republic

(Reuters) - Republican Jon Huntsman, who has based his 2012 campaign for the White House almost exclusively on a strong showing in New Hampshire, has been rewarded with endorsements from two newspapers in the state with an early primary election. The Keene Sentinel and the Valley News both praised the former U.S. ambassador to China in editorials on Sunday. The endorsements were another snub to Mitt Romney, a former governor of neighboring Massachusetts who has dominated most opinion polls in New Hampshire this year but whose lead has recently narrowed in the race for the Republican nomination to run for...

Since it has been an unusual presidential election cycle with various front-runners throughout the horse race for the 2012 Republican nomination, Washington Post columnist E.J. Dionne and New York Times columnist David Brooks say there is the possibility that anything can happen. On Friday’s broadcast of NPR’s “All Things Considered,” in their regular weekly appearance, the two laid out scenarios that in any other election cycle would have been thought of as nearly impossible. First, Dionne elaborated on a recent column about why he thinks former U.S. Ambassador to China and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman should not be ruled...

Political blogger Andrew Sullivan has made an endorsement among this year’s ever-thinning field crop of GOP presidential contenders, and it’s none other than Ron Paul. On his Daily Beast blog “The Dish,” Sullivan writes that, initially, he had his eye on Jon Huntsman, praising for the former governor of Utah’s tax reform proposals and his experience with foreign relations (particularly where China is concerned, as well as his level-headed approach and — as Sullivan puts it — his “conservative position” when it comes to global warming. However, Sullivan has been less than enthused with what he describes as Huntsman’s “mediocre...

The Economist/YouGov Poll December 10-13, 2011 If you had to choose one, which of these individuals would you want to be the Republican nominee for president in 2012? Asked of registered voters who are likely to vote in a Republican primary or caucus (n=325) Newt Gingrich 29% Mitt Romney 18% Ron Paul 14% Michele Bachmann 7% Rick Perry 6% Rick Santorum 6% Jon Huntsman 2% Gary Johnson 0% Other 8% No preference 10%

A very clear view from Rancho Mirage. Monday A grueling drive down from rainy Los Angeles to Rancho Mirage. It is about the drabbest drive there is anywhere on earth. The New Jersey Turnpike is like the 17 Mile Drive in Carmel by comparison. We always make a lot of stops because, well, because we're old and get tired easily. I visited with people at a hotel in Ontario, then at a CVS and a gas station in Calimesa, and at a Bob's Big Boy. I am like a small town politician and my district runs along Highway 10 from...

Mitt Romney will be missing in The Gift of Life premiere audience, as well as Ron Paul, a pro-life doctor, and as Jon Huntsman. When I asked Governor Huckabee if tonight amounts to an endorsement application test, Huckabee gives them all a pass. “More than anyone” he tells me, “I recognize that candidates have frantic schedules and all can’t come to every event. Those who don’t come aren’t snubbing the pro-life issue, but those who do are showing that they believe it to be a priority and that is significant.” Interestingly, Nancy Keenan from NARAL takes the premiere as an...

Gingrich holds 11 point lead nationwide according to 5 polls released this week. New polls also show Gingrich leads in Pennsylvania and California,

Two GOP presidential hopefuls traded their debate podiums for a conference table Monday in a debate straight from the 19th century. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman took part Monday afternoon in a traditional Lincoln-Douglas-style debate at Saint Anselm College in Manchester. The one-on-one session, the first of its kind during the New Hampshire primary campaign, allowed the candidates to address foreign policy issues in greater detail, giving them five minutes for each response. By contrast, traditional debates allow candidates no more than 90 seconds to detail their positions. “One of the great weaknesses of...

ewt Gingrich holds a substantial 35% to 21% lead over Mitt Romney among Republican and Republican-leaning independent voters who say they are very likely to vote in the GOP primaries or caucuses, according to the latest national survey conducted Dec. 7-11 by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press. But clear majorities say there is at least a chance they would vote for either Gingrich or Romney in Republican primaries in their state. None of the other Republican candidates draws nearly as much potential support.

WASHINGTON - Exactly three weeks until the first Republican presidential nominating contest in Iowa, front-runners Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney have two different challenges, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll. ~~snip~~ Gingrich leads the GOP pack According to the poll, Gingrich, the former House speaker, is the first choice of 40 percent of GOP primary voters -- the highest percentage any Republican presidential candidate has received in the party horserace so far. Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, is the first choice of 23 percent of Republicans. He’s followed by Texas Rep. Ron Paul at 9 percent, Minnesota...

Jon Huntsman lost me when he said tweeted, “I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.” Since when has been insulting your party’s voters been a winning formula? Huntsman had started to lose me during an August debate, when Fox News moderator Bret Baier asked GOP hopefuls to raise their hands if they would walk away from a deficit-reduction deal with a ratio of $10 in spending cuts to every $1 in tax increases, and they all raised their hands. Including Huntsman. The fact that Democrats have taken the time to email me extolling Huntsman...

Debate starting now; link to livestream posted above, and I'll post an additional live link below.

There may only be two candidates, but plans for a debate moderated by Donald Trump are "moving full steam ahead," the organizers said Friday. Only Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum accepted the invitation from conservative media group Newsmax to attend the Dec. 27 forum in Iowa, broadcast on Ion Television. Some other candidates, in declining, cited the possibility that Trump might make a third-party run for president, an option Trump said Friday he's not prepared to give up. Asked by Fox Business Network's Don Imus on Friday whether he might back out of his role managing the Q&A, Trump said:...

Just to be clear, this is less about following the money and more about following the ideology. As another freeper posted here, Americans Elect has seemingly been corrupted from within by big wigs and power brokers. Enter John Huntsman, who is being courted by Christine Todd Whitman to run on an Americans Elect ticket. I'm getting red flags about this. Below is some of what's in the original posting about the Soros - Americans Elect connection:

Jon Huntsman barely registers in national GOP polls and is a distant fourth in New Hampshire, the state he has focused on. So, by the logic of the current Republican presidential race, it’s time for the ex-Utah governor to shine. Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry and Herman Cain have all skyrocketed only to collapse in turn due to self-inflicted wounds. Despite every opportunity, Mitt Romney has failed to make the sale with Republican voters. Libertarian Ron Paul has a fervent following that doesn’t seem to expand.

GOP Presidential Candidate Jon Huntsman dismissed Donald Trump and the debate the real estate mogul and reality TV star will be moderating, and told Larry Kudlow he’s the only consistent conservative in the race. The former Utah Governor and former ambassador to China likened the Newsmax-sponsored presidential debate to a reality show, and said he would not be participating. “There’s some dignity associated with a run for the highest office in the land, and it shouldn’t be trivialized and it shouldn’t be dumbed down,” he said. “If Don Trump cares about our nation’s future, he should have been a candidate...

If your choices on the Republican Primary ballot were to vote for one of the declared and registered candidates listed below, or to write in one of the two listed non-candidates, how would you vote? Please only choose a write-in candidate if you would honestly have the courage to do a write-in on election day. The current candidates are listed alphabetically, followed by two write-in choices. Undecided is also a choice. Please vote only once.

He’s not even running for president, but Donald Trump's latest venture has some Republican candidates riled about the 'circus' it would become. It was announced Friday that the real estate mogul and Apprentice host would lead the event between White House hopefuls on December 27. The timing is crucial, as it is scheduled to take place just one week before the Iowa primary, which is the first of the 2012 election race. But at least two of the candidates said Sunday that they refuse to take part. Ron Paul's campaign said in a statement that Trump's presence is 'beneath the...

(snip) Jon Huntsman inexplicably chose to debut as the Republican for people who rather dislike Republicans, but his program is the most conservative. He endorses Paul Ryan’s budget and entitlement reforms. (Gingrich denounced Ryan’s Medicare reform as “right-wing social engineering.”) Huntsman would privatize Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Gingrich’s benefactor). Huntsman would end double taxation on investment by eliminating taxes on capital gains and dividends. (Romney would eliminate them only for people earning less than $200,000, who currently pay just 9.3 percent of them.) Huntsman’s thorough opposition to corporate welfare includes farm subsidies. (Romney has justified them as national security...

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is skipping next week's presidential primary debate in Iowa. ABC is to televise the event nationally. Huntsman on Friday says he'll instead have a town hall-style meeting on Dec. 10 in New Hampshire, a state that is central to his political strategy. Huntsman has written-off Iowa and has spent neither time nor money there. Huntsman also has accepted an invitation to do a one-on-one debate with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich in New Hampshire. The two will meet in Windham for a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate with tea party activists on Dec. 12. Gingrich has invited each...