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HANOVER, NH—Jon Huntsman walked out of the rear door of a Dartmouth auditorium. His head swiveled as he looked for the black SUV that will take him to his next stop. He had just given a speech emphasizing his claim that the future of America will not be decided on a battlefield in remotest Afghanistan but along the trade routes of the Pacific. The applause had barely died down in the hall as Huntsman exited into the quiet streets of Hanover. He took one second to sigh. He had just launched “Phase Two” of his campaign, and it was a...

If the liberal media were allowed to select the Republican presidential nominee, there's little doubt who he'd be: come on up, Jon Huntsman! On today's Morning Joe, Mark Halperin claimed Huntsman "has as good a chance as any of the other candidates to test Mitt Romney" in New Hampshire. Mika Brzezinski took the Huntsman-love a large step farther, flatly proclaiming that "of all the candidates, he's got the goods." Admitted Mika: "I don't get your party." View the video here.

In an interview with ABC’s “The View,” presidential candidate Jon Huntsman rebuked former Gov. Sarah Palin for “stringing people along” as she decided whether to run for president. “There’s too much drama and theater in politics,” Huntsman told the co-hosts in an appearance that was pre-empted for President Obama’s jobs plan speech. “I mean come on. You string people along. Everybody who has anything to do with politics knew she wasn’t going to get in the race. She has a profit proposition, she’s got a business. She makes money doing what she’s doing. Who on earth is going to leave...

The Energy Department on Wednesday approved two loan guarantees worth more than $1 billion for solar energy projects in Nevada and Arizona, two days before the expiration date of a program that has become a rallying cry for Republican critics of the Obama administration's green energy program. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the department has completed a $737 million loan guarantee to Tonopah Solar Energy for a 110 megawatt solar tower on federal land near Tonopah, Nev., and a $337 million guarantee for Mesquite Solar 1 to develop a 150 megawatt solar plant near Phoenix. The loans were approved under...

Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman will announce the endorsement of former U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Gov. Tom Ridge Friday in an event at St. Anselm College in Goffstown. Ridge, a former governor of Pennsylvania, plans to attend a press conference with Huntsman at the college’s New Hampshire Institute for Politics. In a statement by the Huntsman campaign, Ridge said Thursday that Huntsman is “a serious, insightful leader.” Huntsman, 51, a former Utah governor and ambassador to China, said he’ll be counting on Ridge for help and counsel.

Jack Welch: Just 3 Serious GOP Presidential Contenders Published: Friday, 24 Jun 2011 | 11:52 AM ET Text Size By: Michelle Fox There are three real contenders in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to former General Electric chairman Jack Welch. He thinks Tim Pawlenty, Mitt Romney or Jon Huntsman will top the GOP ticket in November 2012. “Each of them has their pluses and minuses,” Welch said. “Only time will tell over the next six months of grueling campaigning” who will emerge as the better leader. All are former governors. Pawlenty spent two terms in the Minnesota...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who said this week he prefers Jon Huntsman to Mitt Romney in the GOP Mormon presidential primary, has taken a lot of money from the Huntsman family, and the former Utah governor appointed Reid’s son, Josh, to Utah’s Board of Regents. So no wonder Reid said Tuesday, “If I had a choice in that race, I’d choose Huntsman over Romney.”

Former Utah Governor John Huntsman, (R/UT), has made it official: Governor Huntsman is entering into the GOP running field for the White House. “Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman is promising policies to create jobs, achieve energy independence and overhaul the tax code.” But I do have ONE QUESTION TO ASK: But will going civil help or hurt Governor Huntsman? Conservatives may see it that it is just being way too soft with President Barak Obama. Plus now, with the surge of the TEA PARTY MOVEMENT, it will be much more harder in 2012 to be even a "moderate Republican" to...

Jon Huntsman wants you to know he rides a dirt bike. On real dirt! He's Salt of the Earth. Grease of the Garage. Dragster on the Dunes. Huntsman's runnin' and gunnin' for president. But underneath the Steve McQueen costumery, this made-for-cable-TV Moderate Speed Racer is a creaky old John McCain on Wheels. The former Utah Republican governor and Obama ambassador to China is the answer to an election-year problem that doesn't exist. The quadrennial "problem," in the minds of Beltway GOP strategists and liberal media chin-pullers, is that the Republican Party isn't moderate, civil, self-critical or inclusive enough. Huntsman is...

Harry Reid, asked to rate his fellow Mormons Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman, picks the former Utah governor: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, reviled by conservatives for ushering Democratic legislation through Congress during Obama’s first two years in office, told reporters Tuesday that he’d pick Huntsman over GOP rival and fellow Mormon Mitt Romney. “If I had a choice, I would favor Huntsman over Romney,” said Reid, who like Romney and Huntsman belongs to the Church of Latter-Day Saints. The Senate leader proceeded to take a broad swipe at the former Massachusetts governor, whom he described as a “a man...

Liberty State Park, New Jersey (CNN) -- Not known for throwing out red meat to conservative audiences, former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman warned voters the country is facing an "un-American" future in his campaign kick-off speech Tuesday. Huntsman took aim at the sluggish economy and mounting national debt in his remarks. "We are about to pass down to the next generation a country that is less powerful, less compassionate, less competitive and less confident than the one we got. This is totally unacceptable and totally un-American," Huntsman said. Launching his bid for the GOP presidential nomination in front of the...

Yeah, this guy’s got lots of appeal.

It is beginning to appear like civil center-right Republicans may indeed have a horse in the 2012 race -- Jon Huntsman. The more I learn about him, the more I get my hopes up that center-righters may finally find a champion in American politics. The former ambassador to China and governor of Utah brings a soft-spoken, moderate approach to politics. While the rest of the Republicans continue to disappoint (Palin is nuts, Pawlenty isn't worldly enough, Gingrich flamed out ... ), I am growing increasingly interested in Huntsman. Phil Elliott of the AP has been covering Huntsman (along with all...

You may not know a lot about Huntsman yet but here are a few key facts.... He's essentially John McCain without the war record and goofy daughter. He's also the guy liberals in the media are talking up as a real threat to Obama. You know you can trust those guys because they have the best interest of Republicans and conservatives at heart. Well, the guys at Verum Serum are getting out in front of this early and trying to make sure everyone knows who Huntsman really is. (Click Link to Watch Video)

"He's a Morning Joe candidate." That could be the kiss of death among Republican primary voters, but Mark Halperin meant it as a compliment. Today's Morning Joe panel was unanimous in its praise for Huntsman's performance in New Hampshire over the weekend. More from Mark Halperin: "As impressive as any couple I've seen . . . I was pretty blown away by how effective he was . . . more [comfortable in his skin] than Barack Obama and George Bush, and they for me in my career have been the gold standard . . . One of the liberal trackers...

Yes, world, it is true: not all Mormons are alike. That's the news that's making headlines as buzz continues to build about the nascent presidential campaign of former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, Jr. Of course, I've been saying it for months here at RD: Romney is what many Mormons call a TBM--or "true-believing Mormon"—an orthodox believer and devout practitioner of the faith. Huntsman? Well, he's something else—an other-than-orthodox Mormon of a variety that contemporary Mormonism may not yet have the vocabulary to describe. Early Thursday morning, Matthew Bowman at the New Republic tried to spin the differences between Romney and...

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...

Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the U.S. ambassador to China, sent a resignation letter to President Barack Obama on Monday and now is likely to explore a Republican presidential bid, a close associate told POLITICO. In a letter hand-delivered to the White House, the former Utah governor said that he wants to return to the United States by May, the associate said. The letter thanks Obama for the opportunity to serve the country and praises the U.S. embassy staff in Beijing.

The White House expects Jon Huntsman, the U.S. Ambassador to China, to resign his post this spring to explore a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, top Democrats said. GOP allies of Huntsman have already begun laying plans for a quick-start campaign should the former Utah governor decide to enter the ill-defined Republican field. Huntsman has avoided publicly discussing the possibility of a bid against the president who appointed him, but he’s sending signals that make clear he’s serious about a run now – not in 2016, when many top officials in both the GOP and the White House assumed...