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. Here’s 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 campaign’s 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 can’t help himself, comes off as too condescending to a lot of primary voters. His attitude rubs people wrong in South Carolina and Iowa.
What’s 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 doesn’t offend the women of The View.
(Excerpt) Read more at redstate.com ...
An extremely clever businessman invents the plastic egg carton and “clamshell” containers for take-out foods, makes gobs of money from scratch to create the largest family owned operation in US history, On top of being a strictly conservative no-booze, close family patriarch and one of the major philanthropists of all times (over a billion so far). (Regardless of what you think of Huntsman Sr., if you or a loved one gets cancer and a cure exists, it may be thanks to the Huntsman Cancer Institute’s research and treatment programs.)
His son, Jon Huntsman Jr even put together a resume at age 15. Mowing lawns. Washing dishes. Carrying bricks. No snobbery here, just am ambitious kid willing to do honest work, dirty work, to earn a few bucks. And Republicans do nothing but criticize. Very sad.
“Incomprehensible” doesn’t seem like the right word for what I was trying to convey but we’ll go with that, for the moment.
Compare and contrast:
Huntsman: Mormon, one of the most patriotic of faith traditions
Obama: Has a preacher that says “G*d D*** America” from the pulpit.
Huntsman: Governs a very conservative state with a conservative approach
Obama: Chicago machine politician, votes “present” a lot
Do you see where I’m going here? There is no alignment between the two on the most basic of political and social principles. Why would Huntsman choose to join the team led by someone diametrically opposed to your principles? This cannot help but have a political cost, no matter the spin Huntsman would put on it.
I think it would have been virtually impossible for Jon to conscientiously refuse. If you have ever heard him talk about it, his philosophy to serve the country when called is so intense and defining, without regard to personal or political aggravation. Not that any governor in the country would have turned down an ambassadorship to China. It is called serving your country in a non-administrative position. He always planned to be ambassador to China for just two years, did a good job, and served in a diplomatic position that in no way requires or implies that he supported politically the man who appointed him.
Even if Huntsman somehow manages to come in first or a close second in New Hampshire, it would position him among the top 2 or 3 contenders, but nothing is guaranteed. We will still have a contest and he will still be forced to contend with Newt or whoever pulls ahead in Iowa and then South Carolina.
Erickson is hilarious, BTW. I’m glad he has come around but there must be some serious projection going on here. Any sensible assessment, and it is really him that has run away from Jon’s conservative record and given the “middle finger” to this candidate while flip-flopping through all the others on numerous occasions.
To be fair, many don’t criticize him on those grounds. There’s a contingent of obnoxious, knee-jerk pseudo-conservatives on this board who think that unless you ostentatiously play red-state identity politics and rile the base, then you are a “leftist RINO”. If some folks would take a bit more time and actually THINK, they’d see Huntsman is a qualified guy, who’s record and platform is decidedly more conservative than any of the GOP frontrunners.
For sure. Erickson came across as extremely petty. He admitted he loved Huntsman’s platform and thought he had an admirable record, but he just didn’t like John Weaver, and didn’t like Huntsman’s “tone” in debates. To be sure, Huntsman’s strategy for this primary has been awfully questionable, but Erickson was childish in his dismissals of Huntsman initially.
Huntsman has addressed that issue a number of times on various programs...Hannity, O’Reilly, etc.
He said that he has a deep belief in service to your country and that when called upon to serve your country, you do it, particularly when it is in as important a situation as our relations with China. He also worked as a staff assistant in the Reagan Administration, served as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Ambassador to Singapore under Bush I and as a trade representative under Bush II, if that matters to you.
Take it as you will, but that has consistently been his explanation
It’s understandable in a sense that a candidate of Huntsman’s stature out of the domestic loop for two years sails back totally underestimating the extent to which he would end up in a fight for money, media attention or especially credibility.
What he should have been advised of early on was that the New Hampshire one state insurgent McCain strategy requires voters at least have a modicum of faith that they aren’t throwing away their ballot on a candidate the rest of the country hadn’t the foggiest idea even exists. Romney people were not going to peel off to a fringe media candidate with zero national name recognition or backing and right wingers not especially in the face of more pandering conservative alternatives. Huntsman came with such obvious handicaps of to the Tea Party of globalism, elitism, liberal media love, Obama background etc. that Erickson is only making excuses by blaming campaign strategy and then pretending he never knew who this guy was to begin with. Jon was pegged as a Romney stalker by the press, tied at the hip to the global corporate establishment and never had a fighting chance against the more populist Tea Party grassroots candidates. If Cain or Perry etc had panned out as viable contenders, commentators suddenly turned on to Huntsman would be singing a completely different tune about his credentials today.
Center right Independents were there for the taking with a self-financed national introduction to give the impression of a serious effort followed by more focused spending and messaging tactics in New Hampshire and elsewhere. Seems so obvious in retrospect...:)
Well let’s not speak of Huntsman’s candidacy in the past tense! I honestly believe he still has a shot. If he can pull an upset in New Hampshire, and the rest of the field remains as unsettled, then Huntsman has a real opening. Not saying it’s likely....but I honestly don’t think folks are locked in to Newt right now, and I certainly don’t think they’re locked in to Mitt.
Thank you. An open mind, can’t hurt, can it?
I am a conservative Freeper who is very open about his Huntsman support. I just pray that I won’t be the only one when the primaries begin.
I don’t think I will be....
‘erlayman’ and ‘St. Louis Conservative’ have both splendidly answered the ambassadorial questions better than I could, in this thread.
I hope Erick Erickson’s re-think on Huntsman is a sign of things to come.
It’s getting late now people. We need to get out of the shallow ‘America’s Got Talent’ phase, and get serious. I would implore all undecided, wavering, and soon-to-be homeless, voters, to re-evaluate the candidates. Look at their records, not just their words. Look at what they have done, not just what they say, or how they look. Get past media-driven labels, and make your own mind up.
I want to win. And not just to get rid of Obama. I want a talented, experienced president, who believes in conservative principles, who can actually get the job done.
Huntsman can beat Obama, Huntsman can govern as a conservative president, Huntsman just needs a second look.
Those who have already firmly decided on their candidates though: good luck! The next few months are going to be one heck of a ride!
I look at it this way.....we have about 40 days to go before New Hampshire starts voting. Honestly, in this day and age, 40 days is plenty of time to get traction and make serious moves. You want proof? On Dec 2, 2007, The RCP average of NH polling was as follows:
Romney 33.8
Guiliani 18.4
McCain 15.6
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/other/2012_2008_gop_new_hampshire_primary_4_years_ago.html
Huntsman is still a few points behind McCain’s position, but he’s gaining steam, and in my opinion the 2012 race is less settled, and with less of a commanding field than 2008 was.
I am a little more optimistic than a few days ago. As many polls seem to inch down within the margin of error as up, but Huntsman really is the only clean hand left with the Cain stumble and the virtually certain implosion of Gingrich.
Even the perception of making real headway seems should start a bandwagon effect to get him more widely recognized in NH and elsewhere. Hopefully the campaign can then take that and run by doing more than 1 or 2 events a day, which may be giving some people the impression of a lazy or non-serious candidate. :(
I’m getting the sense that Huntsman is getting a little more aggressive. His TBTF plan got a lot of notice, and I think his retail politicking in NH is building him a growing, loyal base. I’m realistic about his chances, but we’ve already seen polls swing wildly within 30 days in this primary, so why is it not possible again? After all, like you said, Huntsman is the remaining “clean hand”, and as more serious conservatives examine his platform and record, they will find a solid candidate worth supporting. George Will is doing that just now (saw it via a Tweet).
Newt is a talented politician, but I agree he is very vulnerable to an implosion. You can already see it in the self-aggrandizing statements he’s been making since his spike in the polls. I’d be “ok” with Newt, but believe in my heart that Huntsman is a superior candidate in many many ways. I will be opening my wallet to Jon again this December.
It would be one of the greatest come from behind wins in Presidential primaries ever witnessed.
Newt has it on some merits but to say there are aspects to loath about his campaign would be putting it mildly. So I’m very surprised at how quickly he has risen in standing among Republican faithful. 15 years must be a lifetime because everything that made him the most unpopular politician in the country in the ‘90’s is back and more scandalous than ever - the smugness, his poor body language, the ever apparent puffed up look down your nose at people attitude, the exact kind of all about money, establishment GOP corruption that America supposedly so disdains...
All of which goes to the fact that this REALLY is the wildest Republican primary maybe in a generation or two generations. :)
It would, however times are different now than they ever have been. Information is freer and widely disseminated. The world is flat, we have a 24/7 news cycle, twitter, and facebook, and things can change rapidly.
McCain’s comeback in 2008 was pretty implausible. He was written off and left for dead in the summer of 2007. Even in December, he was still polling third in New Hampshire and fifth in Iowa. We know the story from there.
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