Huntsman ends his wrong-way bid for the GOP nomination
Jon Huntsman’s third-place finish in New Hampshire didn’t give him a “ticket to ride” very far. A slew of reports last night said Huntsman will drop out of the GOP race this morning and endorse the man he spent weeks in New Hampshire trying to tear down, Mitt Romney.
It wasn’t surprising that Huntsman’s chances were nil after he won just one in six voters in the state that received almost all his attention, particularly given that the vast majority of his voters in New Hampshire don’t consider themselves Republicans. And students of political campaigns will long marvel that even a man who planned to run as a moderate in his party’s primary thought he could win the nomination after displaying indifference and sometimes hostility toward the party’s base.
Given his record as governor of Utah and his economic proposals, Huntsman could have chosen to run to Romney’s right. He most likely would have done better. Now, it’s hard to believe his future as a Republican at the national level is terribly bright. If you think Romney has had a hard time convincing voters he’s a conservative after running as a liberal-to-moderate in Massachusetts in 1994 and 2002, imagine how much harder it would be for Huntsman to do the same when he was running as a liberal-to-moderate in a Republican presidential primary in 2012.
Besides running along the wrong flank of the party, Huntsman never made the case for himself as an indispensable leader. Like Tim Pawlenty before him, Huntsman came off as compelling to a compellingly small number of voters. Again, Huntsman’s economic proposals were solid — but there was nothing about them that couldn’t be adopted by Romney, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum or any other candidate who chose to do so. Heck, Huntsman pretty much adopted the tax plan of Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson anyway.
I doubt this development has much of an effect on the race. There aren’t many “Huntsman voters” for the other candidates to collect, although I suspect the majority of them will in fact go to Romney. One definite impact: The five remaining candidates will each have a little more face time during tonight’s debate. Will any of them gain an advantage from that?
In the next few days, you will see much hand-wringing in the press — not to mention among the more liberal denizens of this blog — to the effect that Huntsman’s failure signals an ideological hard-headedness within the Republican Party. Please. This is the party that nominated John McCain in 2008 and is, in all likelihood, about to nominate Mitt Romney in 2012. It is not making a hard-right turn. Jon Huntsman’s presidential bid didn’t fail because of the GOP; it failed because of Jon Huntsman.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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110 comments Add your comment
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:28 pm
“Do yourself a favor and pick up Time this week. Nice piece on Buffet ”
Buffett is a left wing clown. Time is as relevant as Jimmy Carter going to North Korea.
Dusty
January 16th, 2012
12:28 pm
Well, Huntsman never was in the picture for me. The first debate I saw, he seemed a fine intellectual gentleman who thought rather highly of himself.
The public does not think too highly of one who thinks of himself as “above the others” whether it is true or not. With that realization, I said goodbye to Huntsman early on.
So–Santorum–too naive. Perry, good blunt Texan with experience but problems with elocution. The good doctor–too old and radical. Gingrich—sharp mind, political experience. third wife, tenacious to the end.
Romney is the most likely winner and he makes promises. We know promises change. but he appears to have integrity. I think he is the best choice Republicans can make at this time.. The battle he faces will be horrific.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:29 pm
All you birthers on this blog should join me in demanding to see willard’s papers.
And if he shows his papers to prove he was born in America and his tax forms show he paid taxes we will never admit we are wrong or apologize.
DannyX
January 16th, 2012
12:31 pm
Lol Getalife.
Lets see…Romney is the father of Obamacare, his father was not born here, he hasn’t produced his birth certificate, is a non-Christian, and reads from a teleprompter!
LOL! Republicans cloned Obama!
saywhat?
January 16th, 2012
12:32 pm
Kyle wrote “And I think it is wholly possible to take a different position on an issue, such as global warming, without belittling the people who disagree with that position. I infer from your posts over time that you don’t agree, but I think that’s your problem.”
Do you also thinks its possible to disagree with people on issues such as “W had the CIA blow up the WTC”, or “Mormons are really devils in disguise and they want to eat your children” without belittling them? I don’t. There comes a point when if a disagreement changes from two sides having different interpretations of fact to one side completely ignoring facts that belittlement becomes almost unavoidable. There is no chance for a reasonable discussion if one party just makes stuff up.
If somebody argued that “yes, there is climate change, and yes, there is a great amount of human influence, but no, I don’t think it would be beneficial or cost effective to try and change course, and here is why….”, I would be happy to respectfully argue back, and they might even convince me to change my mind on a point or two. How would you respond to Democrats who rather than deny that the deficit was a problem, instead denied that there was a deficit?
I would not want Huntsman as President, but he did overestimate the general intelligence of the Republican base, something way too easy to do these days.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:34 pm
“All you birthers on this blog should join me in demanding to see willard’s papers.”
He was born in Detroit, Mi.
Try again, getalife.
“And if he shows his papers to prove he was born in America and his tax forms show he paid taxes we will never admit we are wrong or apologize.”
If he didn’t pay his taxes, the IRS would be all over him.
Get a life, getalife.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:34 pm
DannyX,
In the famous words of Jim Wooten, “My head spins.”
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:36 pm
“I would not want Huntsman as President, but he did overestimate the general intelligence of the Republican base, something way too easy to do these days.”
The entire Democrat base is made up of people on welfare, high school drop outs etc.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:36 pm
“He was born in Detroit, Mi.”
Have you seen his long form birth certificate?
Link please.
Have you seen his tax forms?
Link please.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:37 pm
“Romney is the most likely winner and he makes promises. We know promises change. but he appears to have integrity. I think he is the best choice Republicans can make at this time.. The battle he faces will be horrific.”
As long as he keeps about Obama’s horrible record as president, he’ll be fine. Obama’s polling in the low 40’s and he lost independents a long time ago. Hope and Change is distant memory now.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:38 pm
“Have you seen his long form birth certificate?”
Yes.
“Have you seen his tax forms?’
I’ve never seen Obama’s tax forms. You got those?
Jefferson
January 16th, 2012
12:38 pm
So I guess you folks are settleing on Romney, love that eh ?
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:39 pm
getalife is a racist.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:39 pm
So you got no proof.
It does not matter because I will never admit I am wrong or apologize.
Just to be fair and balanced.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:40 pm
“So I guess you folks are settleing on Romney, love that eh ?”
I’ll take a fence post over that guy who resides in the White House at the moment. GOP voters don’t worship their candidates like Democrat voters do.
GodHatesTrash, Superstar
January 16th, 2012
12:40 pm
Palin was and still is the darling of the ooogedy-boogedy crowd that make up the majority of the GOP base – birthers, fundies, gunnuts, homophobes – and especially racists. At first the Wasillabilly seemed like a bold move on McCain’s part – he had been slowly gaining in the polls, and the nomination of a woman worked for a brief while to counteract the novelty of a black man as president.
But then she opened her mouth, and the drivel came out, and the oogedy-boogedy crowd showed up at her events, looking like a cross between a lynch mob and a Nuremberg rally. And, naturally, decent and intelligent people were turned off – the Palin honeymoon ended as quickly as it started, and McCain/Palin steadily lost support over the last several weeks of the campaign.
If McCain had nominated an adult, the election would have been very close, and I believe he would have won. But the prospect of a President Palin scared the hell out of anyone with an IQ over 90.
You really have to hate the United States of America to think that an empty-headed empty skirt like Sarah Palin is fit to lead it.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:40 pm
Why doesn’t willard promote his Mexican roots for the Latino vote cons?
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:41 pm
“It does not matter because I will never admit I am wrong or apologize.”
Oh no, whatever will I do?????????
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:42 pm
GodHatesTrash, Superstar
Haven’t you been banned by every single AJC blog? I wonder why?
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:42 pm
“Why doesn’t willard promote his Mexican roots for the Latino vote cons?”
Because Rubio will be his running mate and THAT will secure their vote.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:42 pm
“Oh no, whatever will I do?????????”
Deal with it con.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:43 pm
rubio lied about his birth place too.
He is Cuban.
td
January 16th, 2012
12:44 pm
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:24 pm
Not to receptive of unintelligent American opinions. Have you said one thing of substance in the past 2 weeks? If you want to come on here and give a good thoughtful debate in defending your ideology, philosophy and opinion then I am sure you will get due respect. The posters on this blog will probably disagree with you but will not disrespect you.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:47 pm
td,
There is no honest debate until you cons admit you are dead wrong about our President and apologize for that birther, Kenyan, socialist, ets…. lies.
Got it.
Jefferson
January 16th, 2012
12:49 pm
Someone who supports a fence post, has little to offer.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:50 pm
“rubio lied about his birth place too.”
Good luck with that, goober.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:50 pm
“Someone who supports a fence post, has little to offer.”
Yet you responded to it.
td
January 16th, 2012
12:51 pm
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:38 pm
“Have you seen his long form birth certificate?”
Yes.
“Have you seen his tax forms?’
I’ve never seen Obama’s tax forms. You got those?
Why can we not see Obama’s college records? His dissertation? His college passport? Why has Obama spent over $1 million to make sure none of those see the light of day?
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:51 pm
“There is no honest debate until you cons admit you are dead wrong about our President and apologize for that birther, Kenyan, socialist, ets…. lies.”
The only thing I’ll admit is how bad your life must really be. Seriously, if you sit on two blogs 24/7 you must either not have a job or you live at home with your parents. Either way, you are still pathetic.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:52 pm
“Why can we not see Obama’s college records? His dissertation? His college passport? Why has Obama spent over $1 million to make sure none of those see the light of day?”
Ask him.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:53 pm
“Why can we not see Obama’s college records? His dissertation? His college passport? Why has Obama spent over $1 million to make sure none of those see the light of day?”
Even the newt asked to see willard’s papers yet you say nothing.
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2012
12:53 pm
saywhat @ 12:32: In other words, you’re only willing not to belittle someone if they go 80 percent toward your way of thinking.
In fact, the scenario you outlined is not all that far from what a great many informed people on the right have argued for years. But that position has been deemed untenable by people who want to extrapolate what is known scientifically into other alleged “truths” that just happen to support their pre-existing political agenda. So we are at the point where stories like this one in the Washington Post — about a study that argues the vast majority of the supposed benefits of “fighting climate change” could be had by attacking two problems that are much, much, much smaller in scope than the drastic reduction of CO2 world-wide — likely will go nowhere.
td
January 16th, 2012
12:53 pm
getalife
January 16th, 2012
12:47 pm
I do not know about the birther thing but Obama is a socialist. Those FACTS have been hashed out many times and the are undeniable. Just go read his own words in his book.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:54 pm
getalife
I have a couple of questions for you. The reason I’m here is because I have the day off from work.
Here a few questions.
1: Do you have a job?
2: Do you have a life?
3: Why do you sit on Kyle and Jay’s blog 24/7?
Thanks
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2012
12:55 pm
getalife and To whom: That’s enough of this pointless yammering about birth certificates.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:56 pm
“fighting climate change”
The ONLY people in the United States of America who still talk about global scamming are liberals. NO ONE else cares and no one else even believes it exists. If libs think it’s a winning issue, why are they outnumbered by conservatives 5-1?
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
12:57 pm
“That’s enough of this pointless yammering about birth certificates.”
Kyle, I’m not the one who brought it up and I am just as sick of hearing about it as you are. I will not talk about it anymore.
JDW
January 16th, 2012
1:03 pm
@Kyle, I think you are confusing Palin’s selection and McCain’s return to Washington with a standard run of the mill Convention Bounce followed by a return to reality…selecting Palin was a desperate attempt to pander to the Base and it doomed his chances.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
1:17 pm
Are tax forms acceptable Kyle?
Better send Newt a message to stop.
I guess he went rogue.
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2012
1:18 pm
JDW: I simply disagree. His obvious incompetence on what became the single biggest issue of the election — the economy — was what doomed him. Even Republicans didn’t trust him on the economy.
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2012
1:18 pm
getalife: I have criticized the Obama birthers in the past, and now I’m telling you that, when it comes to this issue, you should follow your handle’s advice.
getalife
January 16th, 2012
1:21 pm
“you should follow your handle’s advice.”
If I had a nickle……..
td
January 16th, 2012
1:22 pm
Kyle Wingfield
January 16th, 2012
1:18 pm
Might I add that if you look at exit polling results from 04 and 08 then you will find the difference in the election was the amount of difference in the social conservatives that did not come out and vote for McCain. Obama did not statistically receive any more votes then Kerry did in the key battleground states. McCain received less votes then Bush did.
saywhat?
January 16th, 2012
1:23 pm
Kyle, No, I don’t demand 80% agreement with me, just acceptance of basic underlying fact, not to be confused with basic underlying opinion or baseless conjecture. The link you provide is a fine article, but I am not sure what point you are trying to make with it. The scientists identified 14 ways to positively affect climate change, but as simple as they seem on the surface, there are obstacles to implementing them worldwide. It seems to support my argument.This is exatly what should be debated rather than “sunspots”, “Al Gore” and “memogate” crap all of which tend to disregard the actual problem.
Again, how would you respond in a debate about the US budget to somebody who steadfastly refused to agree that there was a budget deficit? Who said it was a illusion trumped up by paid off accountants and masterminded by Rupert Murdoch?
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
1:25 pm
“If I had a nickle…
You’d be rich. If you want to have a serious debate about Romney etc I’m all for it. It’s when you call other people “cons” etc that makes others not want to discuss anything with you.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
1:26 pm
” Obama did not statistically receive any more votes then Kerry did in the key battleground states. McCain received less votes then Bush did.”
There were a lot of conservatives that sat out the election just like they did in the 06 midterms. I think a lot of people will sit out if Mitt is the nominee but I still think he’ll get more independent votes and win more electoral votes than Obama will.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
1:28 pm
getalife
Just for you, pal.
Bain Capital and the Little Steel Mill That Could
Romney’s firm is behind one of American steel’s few recent success stories.
http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/288162/bain-capital-and-little-steel-mill-could-patrick-brennan
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
1:30 pm
“selecting Palin was a desperate attempt to pander to the Base and it doomed his chances.”
If Palin is so irrelevant etc, why are you STILL talking about her?
td
January 16th, 2012
1:33 pm
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
1:26 pm
There may be a few die hard conservatives that stay home but I really think Obama and his progressive/socialist agenda has awoken them to the fact that is they stay home then they get way worse then Romney.
To whom it may concern
January 16th, 2012
1:34 pm
td
Yeah, you may be right. I still have a hard time believing that libs think he’s a great president.