Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
Rob Long ·
Jan 15 at 6:26pm
Jon Huntsman has dropped out of the race. From the NYTimes:
Jon M. Huntsman Jr. informed his advisers on Sunday that he intends to drop out of the Republican presidential race, ending his candidacy a week before he had hoped to revive his campaign in the South Carolina primary.
Mr. Huntsman, who had struggled to live up to the soaring expectations of his candidacy, made plans to make an announcement as early as Monday. He had been set to participate in an evening debate in Myrtle Beach.
Questions: 1. Does his (probable) endorsement of Romney hurt, help, or have zero effect on the current front-runner? 2. Who's next? and 3. What took him so long?
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Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
Somewhat disappointed by this -- had hoped a few other contenders would drop out first. But 1) I think endorsements are almost always a wash. 2) Don't know. 3) It's only been a few days since New Hampshire, after all. And he only just won a South Carolina newspaper endorsement.
Aug '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
(1) No effect. Way back before the Not-Romney train got rolling, everyone equated Huntsman with Romney, saying they were virtually indistinguishable. So a Huntsman endorsement is like Romney looking in a mirror and saying "Oh yeah, that's our guy."
(2) Gingrich resurgence. It's the only story the media is prepared to write. Ron Paul gets his single digits and fades into obscure grumpiness once more.
(3) You have to have a pretty large ego to run for President... one large enough to keep you in races you know you can't win, long after the fact becomes apparent.
Jun '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
Is there any truth to the rumor that President Obama has asked him to serve as the ambassador to North Korea?
Mar '11
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
Who?
Jun '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
As Rush Limbaugh likes to say, the title of the World's thinnest book is, "Great Moderates in History."
May '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
I guess Mr.RINOchet, Rob Long needs a new joke butt. Well, it was fun while it lasted...
Dec '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
Dang! And I was just dreaming up a post on how Huntsman has locked up the Mandarin-speaking Chinese-American vote!
Jun '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
I will miss the former Ambassador to China's condescension...he made us all feel so inadequate. And isn't that what we want in a president, at least, isn't that what we've come to expect in the last three years?
May '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
1) Near-zero: I think an endorsement from an early drop-out due to lack of popularity is even more diluted in effect than a run-of-the-mill endorsement (I think a previously-popular-but-disgraced candidate's endorsement would be better).
2) Does Buddy Roemer count? If not, then I would have thought Perry - he seems to be going through the motions and the Santorum, Paul, Gingrich triumvirate of non-Romney has crowded him out, money or no money.
3) Proportional representation in pre-April states + marathon debating season + the never-ending search for the non-Romney may have made him think "I'm next to rise in the polls around the New Hampshire primary".
What I would find interesting is that - assuming decisions to proceed / drop-out are forward-looking - what did he see coming or experience, that ultimately caused the trigger? A message from big-donor(s)? A spike for another candidate in a purple state?
Meantime, I heard that Gingrich was so inflamed by the negative ads that he was considering dropping out ... and endorsing Romney ;)
Apr '11
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
May '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
I know it's OT, but I just don't get why Perry is polling so low compared to Newt. I mean, he's not *that* bad. It's just weird to me...
Dec '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
Rob Long: From the NYTimes:
The only people who had "soaring expectations" for Huntsman's candidacy were delusional liberals and Huntsman's family.
And of course the delusional liberals would have turned on Huntsman and destroyed him if he'd won the nomination. Huntsman might have labored under the McCain delusion that the mainstream media would find him an acceptable contender against Obama, but the reality is that the MSM will fight all-out for Obama's re-election, their disappointment in his insufficient Progressivism notwithstanding.
Dec '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
Before he entered the race, his promoters assured us that he wasn't another "dumb" Texan like W. Once he appeared on the debate stage, he made their assurances ring hollow.
On the one hand was Perry's record and resume. On the other hand was the man himself, appearing before our very eyes. The voters were not going to ignore the evidence of their own eyes and focus only on his record and resume. Indeed, seeing him stumble and bumble on stage undercut the credibility of his record: perhaps, they thought, he wasn't the person responsible for Texas's successes -- maybe he was taking credit for the work of smarter people.
Jun '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
Of course, the other question is when the various hatchets will be buried and conservatives begin to rally around Mitt. Bolton is likely to be announced as his prospective Secretary of State as a first gesture to get conservatives to come around but given the animus from Mssrs. Gingrich, Perry and Santorum shown to Romney it would be a stretch to think that any of them would have a role in a prospective Romney administration.
The other other question is if Romney locks up South Carolina and Florida, then will the focus begin to shift to the make up of the Senate? A Romney administration won't get far if the Senate doesn't flip Republican and so little attention has been paid to any of these races that are up for grabs.
May '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
And then there were five....
Actually, there were already only five. Actually, there still are really only four...
Dec '11
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
Yikes, a true conservative wouldn't want to waste such a bona fide tough guy on State!
National Security Advisor is another story altogether...
Edited on Jan 15 at 7:16pmMay '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
National Security Advisor, is another story altogether...
I'm wondering the extent to whilch Bolton, if pre-picked, will be used by the MSM and seen by some independents as too "neo-con." Any thoughts on this?
Mar '11
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
1) Huntsman came out running to Romney's left, so Romney will pick up all the Republicans in that demographic - all seven of them.
2) Perry, probably, and unfortunately. So much for actions (and records) speaking louder than words.
3) It could be that he thought that Tim Pawlenty dropped out too soon. In fact, I think so too.
May '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
1. No effect.
2. I don't know either. I'm scared to say, "Ron Paul," because I think he helps make the other candidates better, even though I don't think he's electable.
3. Hubris.
I'm still reeling from your New Hampshire reverie, in which you thought to yourself, "We're going to lose this thing..." Are you still grappling with such moments?
Edited on Jan 15 at 7:37pmJun '10
Re: Huntsman Out. More South Carolina Casualties to Come
EThompson
Yikes, a true conservative wouldn't want to waste such a bona fide tough guy on State!
National Security Advisor is another story altogether... · Jan 15 at 7:15pm
Edited on Jan 15 at 07:16 pm
Well, considering Bolton recently made it a point to endorse Romney in the last few days, my guess is that he's Romney's choice for State. I think Nat'l Security Advisor will go to someone with spycraft and/or military experience.