Free Republic

To think, we’ve spent two years believing it was Romney that had the nastiest, most relentless seek-and-destroy oppo operation on the GOP side. Now I feel like Frank Drebin discovering the missing evidence in the Kelner case. My god — he was innocent. If you believe the sources in “Double Down,” Team Huntsman feeding a mega-smear of Romney to Harry Reid was the tip of the iceberg. 1994, his wife Cheri left [Mitch] Daniels for a married man, but then the couple reconciled and remarried. “In the years since, she had never spoken publicly about the turmoil, and Mitch had...

Was Bill Kristol kidding—just throwing a sop to the not-inconsiderable ego of his host—or could he have been serious? On today's Morning Joe, unveiling his line-up of the nine Republicans he sees running for president in 2016, Kristol included none other than Joe Scarborough himself. But in an unkind cut to someone prospectively facing the famously conservative GOP primary electorate, Kristol described Scarborough as "filling the Huntsman lane" and representing a "Morning Joe conservatism." Ouch! As interesting as were Kristol's nine [which included Sarah Palin] were the names he left off his list, including Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio. View...

The 2,500-seat Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts sold out March 31 for an appearance by Jon Huntsman as part of the Philadelphia Speaker Series. Two days later, Huntsman filled Boston Symphony Hall. Another Huntsman appearance at UCLA later this month is sold out. Without the benefit of incessant media attention some early 2016 prospects have been receiving, Huntsman’s visions and his authentic, inspiring way of conveying them has been attracting, and resonating with, capacity audiences. At the Kimmel Center, Huntsman drew laughs in lowering his hand slowly to the floor, a metaphor for the impact on his 2012 primary...

Last week Jon Huntsman encouraged a little speculation when he said he was "open" to running for the presidency again. After his last showing — in which he didn't even come close to winning a single state in the Republican primary — this announcement did not come with the same breathless fanfare as his last one. Still, I think he should go for it. My advice: Get petty and vindictive. In the last election cycle I was assigned to profile Huntsman, and I thought I would stick a few pins in him. I wanted to dislike him, in some way....

After trolling my own readers yesterday with rumors of Huckabee and Romney running again, I’d be remiss if I didn’t troll them with a rumor about a guy they dislike more than either of them. No half-measures when trolling. That’s my motto. Former presidential candidate Jon Huntsman has engaged in discussions with supporters in recent months about pursuing another White House bid — this time as an independent, according to three sources close to Huntsman… Other friends and former aides, however, suggested that the 2016 conversations were primarily a function of Huntsman’s willingness to hear out his supporters — not...

Former presidential candidate Jon Huntsman has engaged in discussions with supporters in recent months about pursuing another White House bid — this time as an independent, according to three sources close to Huntsman. The former Utah governor declined to comment for the record. His daughter, MSNBC co-host Abby Huntsman Livingston, who was a surrogate for Huntsman’s campaign in 2012, said in an email that her father is “primarily focused on family and private-sector endeavors.” She added: “He has no plans to run, but in politics never say never. I know there is a lot of pull out there for him...

Jon Huntsman thinks Hillary Clinton is just the cat’s meow, but that doesn’t mean the failed 2012 presidential contender isn’t leaving open the option of launching another disaster of a campaign in 2016. “Well, at the risk of totally destroying my future of politics, I have to say [Hillary Clinton] is a very impressive public servant,” the former Republican Utah governor told Larry King during an appearance on ”PoliticKING” on something called Ora.tv that will air Thursday. ”You know, as a young Republican you are trained to go after the Clintons and Hillary Clinton of course was the nemesis during...

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who ran for the Republican U.S. presidential nomination in 2012, suggested he might run again but said he is not a candidate yet....

Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman has become the second Republican voted off the island in the 2012 Republican primary campaign (we don't count Tim Pawlenty or Herman Cain, both of whom dropped out before voting began). His decision late Sunday to suspend his campaign is a bit jarring, given that he had insisted after a disappointing third place finish in New Hampshire that he was staying in through South Carolina. I suspect that what happened is a combination of two things. First, financial reality set in. If you don’t think a candidate is going to win, you’re hard pressed to...

The Tea Party has "completely captivated and ruined" the Republican Party, and will doom the party's chances of reclaiming the presidency unless it is checked, says Jon Huntsman, Sr. The billionaire and one-time adviser to President Richard Nixon weighed in on the state of the GOP Tuesday in an interview with Yahoo Finance. He recommended that the party turn to a candidate such as former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush or his son, Jon Huntsman, Jr., the former governor of Utah and U.S. ambassador to China who ran in the Republican primary for the 2012 nomination and was widely perceived as...

BEGIN TRANSCRIPT RUSH: Let's go to the audio sound bites. I tasked Cookie with getting some audio sound bites of Jon Huntsman Jr. My e-mail is overrun with people who want to know: "Who is this guy, the ambassador to China? Who is he?" because of course the mainstream, the Drive-Bys have thrown him now in the top three Republican presidential candidates. (interruption) I have not played golf with Jon Huntsman Jr., no. Nor have I played golf with Jon Huntsman Sr. I haven't played golf with anybody. No. (interruption) No, I have not smoked cigars with Jon Huntsman Jr.,...

Link only: http://www.ohio.com/news/latourette-says-gop-at-crossroads-must-shift-from-right-to-have-shot-at-white-house-senate-1.482707

If the polls hold, 2014 should be a banner year for Republicans. But Jon Hunstman Sr., a self-described "lifelong Republican" and former special assistant to President Richard Nixon, is looking ahead with concern about the Grand Old Party's 2016 prospects. "The Tea Party has completely captivated and ruined the Republican Party today and they'll show this in 2016," says Hunstman, author of Barefoot to Billionaire. "Unless a Jeb Bush comes in or John Huntsman Jr., the Republicans don't have a prayer." ... The patriarch of the Huntsman family had a more terse reply when asked whether a 'moderate' Republican like...

Story at link

Presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman has snagged an endorsement in a key battleground state - Jeb Bush Jr, the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush. Rumors of a "major" announcement from the Huntsman campaign have been circulating through Florida for days, leading many to speculate that the former governor himself would throw his weight behind Huntsman. It was his 28-year-old son, however, who accepted a position with the campaign and detailed his support in a statement released Wednesday.

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.

Broadcast on: CNN Broadcast time: 8pm EDT/5pm PDT The Candidates: Michele Bachmann Bachmann is serving her 3rd full term in the U.S. House. Founder of the House Tea Party Caucus, she earned a Master of Laws degree, worked as a tax attorney, and was a foster mother for 23 teenagers. She is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Herman Cain Cain is the former chief executive of Godfather's Pizza and former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. He lost the Georgia Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat in 2004. He was recently...

Via Mediaite, a predictable contrast to Gingrich’s ambivalence yesterday. Newt needs a win in Iowa or a close second to boost him in South Carolina and right now Paul and Romney are making that unlikely. He has to attack. All Romney needs is a decent third-place finish or better behind Paul and one of the lightly funded social-con candidates like Bachmann or Santorum who pose no real threat to him nationally. He’s right on track. Why say something critical that might give undecideds in Iowa pause about Paul and might give Paul fans even more of a reason not to...

Republican 2012 presidential candidates Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman met in a 90-minute Lincoln-Douglas style debate on national security and foreign policy. Video from yesterday's debate...

Jon Huntsman Sr., father of former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and a self-described “lifelong Republican,” argued that the tea party has ruined the Republican Party, and that the GOP doesn’t stand a chance unless someone like his son is elected. “The tea party has completely captivated and ruined the Republican Party today and they’ll show this in 2016,” Huntsman Sr. said last week, Yahoo News reported. “Unless a Jeb Bush comes in or John Huntsman Jr., the Republicans don’t have a prayer.” The Chinjunior Mr. Huntsman, who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination in 2012, now serves as the U.S....