My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
When he limped onto the scene as a fresh face, all I knew about Jon Huntsman was that he aspired to assume the mantle of Mr. Moderate. “Right now this country is crying out for a sensible middle ground,” he said. “Right now we have people on the fringes…we have zero substance.”
In the era of the Tea Party and following the failed 2008 campaign of John McCain—the epitome of “centrism” (more like nothingism to those of us in the base)—presenting himself as a moderate was Huntsman’s first and biggest mistake.
And while it was probably not his intention to smear the base as “people on the fringes,” that is indeed what he effectively did by assigning all of the other GOP candidates to the right-wing fringe category. By the time Huntsman had joined the fray, many voters had already at least tepidly attached their support to an existing candidate. To call their guy (or gal) a fringe person, was akin to calling the voters themselves fringe people.
Huntsman’s remarks about the Republican Party being on its way to becoming the "anti-science party" only compounded the problem. Barely out of the gate, Huntsman gave the impression that he disdained the base, and that he intended to win the Republican nomination without appealing to them at all. A campaign can't get much stupider than that.
Then there was the discovery of the grotesquely sycophantic letters to Obama in which Huntsman fawned over Obama’s “remarkable” leadership and his “sense of history and brilliant analysis of world events.” Did he really believe that Obama was a remarkable leader? Really? And he praised Obama’s sense of history, when Obama’s proven himself countless times to have an embarrassingly poor grasp of American history? It just all painted Huntsman as a disingenuous toady. I was not impressed.
Adding insult to injury was Jimmy Carter’s confession that he found Jon Huntsman “very attractive to me personally.”
And so there it was, Jon Huntsman’s candidacy, over before it began despite the flurry of positive profiles in places like the Wall Street Journal and NY Mag.
And yet, at the risk of sounding terribly fickle —as someone who has migrated from a dream ticket of Daniels/Ryan to Perry to Gingrich, and now possibly, to Huntsman—I’m giving the former Governor of Utah a look. For me, Huntsman represents the final frontier before reluctantly stepping in line to support Romney if and when it comes to that.
As I look, I’m finding that there’s actually quite a lot to like about Huntsman. First off, there's nothing discomfiting in his record as Governor of Utah. Utah admittedly is not the most difficult state to run, with a population just shy of 3 million, but Huntsman did balance the state's budget and simplified Utah's tax code by replacing six income tax brackets that ranged from 2.3% to 7% with one more-or-less flat tax of 5%.
Second, a primary plank in Huntsman's platform is the long overdue overhaul of the tax code. Huntsman would create three personal income tax rates —8%, 14%, and 23%—and would eliminate all deductions and credits. Additionally, he'd slash business tax rates and eliminate the cap gains tax.
Third, on foreign policy Huntsman presents himself as knowledgeable and balanced. He appeals to those of us who are looking for a candidate who understands a balance between nation-building on the one hand, and Ron Paul isolationism on the other.
Other planks in his platform are just as solid. He'd repeal both ObamaCare and Dodd-Frank, and is serious about American energy production—he favors more drilling in the Gulf and up in Alaska, and would encourage fracking for natural gas in the continental U.S. Huntsman is also staunchly pro-life, and champions the cause of adoption, himself the father of two adopted daughters in addition to his five biological children.
As far as I'm concerned, Huntsman carries no serious baggage, and there's actually quite a bit there that really endears him to me. I'm no longer a New Hampshire voter (I was last primary season), but if I was, I'd be thinking long and hard about Huntsman this week.
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Comments :
Jun '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
He's too much like Romney to qualify as a Not-Romney.
Dec '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
It occurs to me that a politician who runs a stupid campaign can hardly be relied on to run a smart Administration.
Not, of course, that a politician who runs a brilliant campaign is going to run his Administration with equal brilliance. Obama shows how the one does not guarantee the other.
But if a basic competence of being a politician is getting elected, a politician who runs a rotten campaign demonstrates a basic incompetence, which is unsettling when one tries to project how he will actually govern. (Even if he has a strong track record, his current incompetence raises the question of whether he was really the one responsible for his past successes, or instead was just the beneficiary of good fortune.)
May '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Jon Huntsman was a conservative governor of Utah for 8 years. He is running on the Paul Ryan budget, which is far more conservative than anything that will ever pass Congress. And he knows far more about China, the most important foreign policy challenge of our era, than any other candidate. Any worthwhile approach to evaluating candidates would emphasize these things far more than the way he presented himself to the media when he started running for president. It's the difference between style and substance. And that the opposite has happened tells me that Republicans this year are much more influenced by style -- an impression that is bolstered by the rise of candidates like Herman Cain, who is more transparently unqualified to be Commander in Chief than any presidential candidate in memory, and Newt Gingrich, whose record is so much more liberal than Huntsman that no self-respecting Tea Partier should prefer the former speaker.
Diane, you're right to give him another look. Stuart, how someone runs a campaign tells us very little about how they'd run the country. See Barack Obama.
Jul '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
He's terrible articulating conservative values. At least in the debates. I've never seen him give a speech.
This sums him up well.
He favors cap and trade.
He favors in-state tuition for illegal immigrants. Didn't that issue give Perry trouble?
Oh yeah, he resigned his governorship and worked for Obama. Whiskey Tango Foxtrot?
I'd look at Perry twice more before thinking about voting for Huntsman.
Dec '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Conor Friedersdorf: Any worthwhile approach to evaluating candidates would emphasize these things far more than the way he presented himself to the media when he started running for president. It's the difference between style and substance.
Stuart, how someone runs a campaign tells us very little about how they'd run the country. See Barack Obama.
As I recall, Huntsman's first ad showed him (correction: a body double) cruising across the canyonlands on a motorcycle.
If anyone has fed the demand for pure style over substance in this campaign, it's been Huntsman.
Bloody stupid campaign. How is that supposed to give voters confidence that he'll be better at being President than he has been at running for the Presidency?
Dec '11
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
So how is he going to move the opinion of the people he plainly has no regard for? He essentially disqualified himself from pretty much any management position. Yes style matters, as does substance. Substance is meaningless if you alienate everyone you must rely on to voluntarily follow you.
Aug '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Stuart Creque: It occurs to me that a politician who runs a stupid campaign can hardly be relied on to run a smart Administration.
Not, of course, that a politician who runs a brilliant campaign is going to run his Administration with equal brilliance. Obama shows how the one does not guarantee the other.
Like.
Also, considering his awful record of stupid campaign gaffes so far, how could a primary voter have any confidence that he won't make more stupid campaign gaffes in coming months?
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Yay! Huntsmania! Taking the country by storm. But seriously, he is not a bad choice. I think everyone who is at all concerned about the slate of candidates before us needs to get over themselves and get over whatever first impression they had of Huntsman and consider him rationally.
Mar '11
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Mr Santorum is my last not-Romney, unless Mrs Palin stages a miraculous come-back ;-)
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
I agree his campaign (cough, John Weaver!, cough) has been abysmal. But so has everyone else's. Let's move on and get to the substance.
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Santorum's too much of a big spender for my taste. And he reeks of protectionism.
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
In so far as he's Mormon, I suppose. But he has none of the icky Romney baggage. It's called Romneycare, not Huntsmancare.
Sep '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Before he gets annointed as an expert on China, I'd like to hear from Charles Hill.
Jun '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Anybody, I mean ANYBODY, that ever worked for Barack Obama is absolutely disqualified for me. No way, no how, NEVER EVER!!!!
Aug '11
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
For me, it comes down to passion and substance. It is difficult to tune out the leftward sirens call in Washington - it attracts so much immediate attention and money. But it seems that Huntsman, an outsider, sought the attention of the opposition, groveled for his appointment, and is unapologetic about it. That disqualifies him as a person conservatives can trust. No substantive conservative with any passion for the call could do this. By contrast, Newt is as contrite has his ego will allow and as for passion, he has it in spades, in fact in excess. Rick Santorum is a passionate guy and people are discovering his substance. Perry is having a hard time with the substance sale. Michelle was all passion and otherwise too rigid. And Mitt is passionate, but plays himself like some frenetic Mel Gibson parody. He has proven his intellect, but not his substance. As a conservative, he is a shallow pond. Newt, by contrast, is a deep river, though we're not sure exactly where it leads. Huntsman is fog, perhaps rain.
Edited on Jan 5 at 2:23pmAug '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Key point: His has been worse than the others, IMHO.
Too many voters have been disappointed FAR too many times by candidates that look good on paper, and then turn out to be terrible on the campaign trail.
The first thing primary voters need to know is, how will Candidate X perform against Obama and the Media Hordes? So far, Huntsman's answer to that question has been, "appeasement".
Primary voters need to hear Huntsman's pitch for why they should discount his early campaign, straight from his own mouth.
It's not good enough to say, "hey, maybe he could pull it off. I dunno, but maybe!"
The pitch has to come from him.
(Maybe if he fires his campaign team immediately, primary voters would take a second look at him. Voters need that strong a signal that he recognizes his early mistakes, and understands the need to atone.)
(I have got to stop writing these things as if I'm a U.S. voter. It's disingenuous, and I want to atone.)
Edited on Jan 5 at 2:27pmAug '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Santorum strikes me a grumpy and scolding, I just don't like him.
I like Huntsman's take on trade with Asia and his take on giving the energy sector some room to run again.
And I like his Jack Mormonism, being a Jack Evangelical myself.
Dec '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Yes, let's consider him rationally.
How rational is it to select a nominee so inept at running a national political campaign that he's shown none of the skill and strength necessary to beat an incumbent President who'll have the backing of organized labor and the mainstream media?
How likely is it that Huntsman will get a free pass to make arguments about substance when the opposition will be able to exploit the weaknesses of his style?
If Huntsman's resume and record were up behind the debate podium instead of the man himself, he might do better (same for Perry and his record). But we're electing a person and not a dossier to occupy the Oval Office. A person unable to make the case for himself won't win by pointing to a pile of substance.
Mar '11
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
Let's look at his record then. From the Club for Growth:
Jul '10
Re: My Last Not-Romney: Jon Huntsman
As Tea Party,Hunstmen offers nothing but the back of his hand, so I reciprocate. If "centrism" is working for Obama's Regime, then the center is the new radical left and the 99% are right wing capitalist running dogs.
Having heard Perry interviews the last couple of weeks, I think it is too early to count him out. Santorum sold himself to the self-identified Iowan Tea Partiers, winning a plurality of 30%, but that has been followed by wave after wave of repudiations from some Tea Party pundits (I'm working on a post on those). Iowan Tea Parties were as divided as the rest of the country. Bachmann and Cain drew Tea Party praises and then proved unready. If Perry does rally, he has a chance to galvanize the Tea Party vote and seal the deal with his New Federalism.