Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
You have to hand it to Anna Wintour at Vogue. She knows how to pick them. Last March, as you may remember, I drew attention in a post entitled Tyranny’s Allure to the fact that she had done a lavish spread entitled Asma al-Assad: Rose of the Desert complete with a puff piece on Asma and her husband Bashar al-Assad and that she had had timed it perfectly – on the eve of the butchery in Syria that continues to this day.
That piece, which was soon flushed down the memory hole, began in the following fashion: “Asma al-Assad, Syria’s dynamic first lady, is on a mission to create a beacon of culture and secularism in a powder-keg region – and to put a modern face on her husband’s regime.” And it continued in a manner suggesting that Ms. Al-Assad is everything that Vogue readers admire: “glamorous, young, and very chic – the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies. Her style is not the counture-and-bling dazzle of Middle Eastern power but a deliberate lack of adornment. She’s a rare combination: a thin, long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind who dresses with cunning understatement. Paris Match calls her ‘the element of light in a country full of shadow zones.’ She is the first lady of Syria.”
Well, the talented Ms. Wintour (pictured below) has done it again. This time she has produced a spread on Jon Huntsman, Jr. and his family with a profile by Jacob Weisberg of Slate, entitled Jon Huntsman: The Outsider, and it is no less fawning than the piece that Joan Juliet Buck did on the Syrian tyrant and his wife.
You see, Huntsman is as handsome as Ms. Al-Assad is beautiful, and Annie Leibovtiz is a whiz with her camera. Even more to the point, Huntsman is the sort of fellow whom left-liberals like Weisberg call “a moderate Republican.” His like-named father is a major donor to the Democratic Party and to candidates such as Charlie Rangel, Evan Bayh, Tom Harkin; the family contributed to the campaign war chest of Harry Reid in 2010; and, as I pointed out in a post back in June, Reid has endorsed Jon Huntsman, Jr. for the Republican nomination. Huntsman is, moreover, the kind of nominal Republican who enthusiastically embraces the global-warming scan and writes gushing, effusive letters to Bill Clinton and Barack Obama in praise of their accomplishments.
Here is the way that Vogue wants you to see Huntsman:
This directness and level of comfort around all kinds of people may be born of Huntsman’s diplomatic experience or his years knocking on doors as a Mormon missionary. His left eyebrow is pitched slightly lower than the other, and the eye below it has a slight squint. This gives him a perpetual expression of thoughtful engagement, the look of someone listening intently to what others are saying. Which—unlike most other presidential candidates I’ve observed over the years—he gives every indication of actually doing.
It is only by ignoring a series of conventional political assumptions that Jon Huntsman finds himself on the primary trail here in South Carolina. One is that there’s no demand for Huntsman’s brand of moderation in today’s GOP—a view supported by what Huntsman calls his “margin of error” status in the polling to date. Another assumption is that a mannerly, civil campaign can’t succeed. Huntsman has rarely criticized President Obama or his Republican opponents directly, though he does pepper his remarks with occasional digs at Mitt Romney, the Republican front-runner.
Then, after introducing the readers of Vogue to Huntsman’s family (an exceedingly handsome lot, as you would expect), Weisberg continues in the same vein:
You wonder: Why would these nice, mentally healthy people want to spend the next year or more traipsing through the fever swamps of American politics? Huntsman’s explanation is the message of his presidential campaign: America is off course. He argues that we are passing on an unsustainable level of debt to our children, that we need to restore America’s manufacturing base through a new “industrial revolution” and reorient our foreign policy around competing economically with Asia. To the first challenge, Huntsman brings his experience as a fiscally responsible governor of Utah; to the second, his years working in his family’s chemical business; and to the third, his career representing America’s interests in the Pacific.
As you listen to Huntsman’s blunt assessment of the country’s prospects, it’s hard not to notice the commonalities with the man he would challenge in 2012—the hazard Obama hoped to forestall by sending him to Beijing. There is, to begin with, the physical resemblance. Huntsman is slender, athletic, and stylish, with a winning smile. Huntsman is 51, Obama is 50, and both have an unusual reserve, a cool unflappability. More important is a shared fundamental outlook: substantive, patient, with a preference for compromise over confrontation, and a pragmatic rather than ideological approach to politics.
Pause and savor Weisberg's assessment of the man responsible for shoving through the trillion dollar stimulus, Obamacare, and Dodd-Frank monstrosities and for demonizing those who have the effrontery to disagree with him: “substantive, patient, with a preference for compromise over confrontation, and a pragmatic rather than ideological approach to politics.” I do hope that Ms. Wintour paid him handsomely for that. It is as fine a piece of flackery as ever I have seen.
But there is more. On the off-chance that readers of Vogue entertain a bias against Mormons, Weisberg stokes their bigotry, then tells them not to worry. Huntsman is not really one of those people. He is not the genuine article like Mitt Romney. He is more like a cafeteria Catholic. His is the acceptable face of superstition:
People tend to see Mormonism as a binary, you-are-or-you-aren’t question, but Jon Huntsman is something more like a Reform Jew, who honors the spirit rather than the letter of his faith. He describes his family on his father’s side as “saloon keepers and rabble rousers,” and his mother’s side as “ministers and proselytizers.” The Huntsman side ran a hotel in Fillmore, Utah’s first capital, where they arrived with the wagon trains in the 1850s. They were mostly what Utahans call “Jack Mormons”—people with positive feelings about the Latter-Day Saints church who don’t follow all of its strictures. “We blend a couple of different cultures in this family,” he says.
You’d never hear a phrase like that from Romney, who has raised his sons as Mormons and sent them on missions. Nor would you see Tagg, Matt, Josh, Ben, or Craig Romney in a hotel bar, sipping a glass of wine, as you might see one of Huntsman’s adult children. The difference in attitudes between the two Mormon candidates is encapsulated in the football rivalry between Brigham Young, where Romney went to college, and the University of Utah, where Huntsman went (before transferring to the University of Pennsylvania). BYU is an institution grounded in Mormon theocracy. The University of Utah is a state school that happens to have a lot of LDS students.
You get the picture – and, if you don’t, read the whole article and examine the photographs. There is, I think, a subtext. It amounts to a hint that Barack Obama might profit from ditching Joe Biden and putting Jon Huntsman on the ticket. He is, after all, “a thinking person’s candidate whose candor shines a light on the evasions of his rivals, even if it fails to change the outcome of the race” – which is to say that Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Herman Cain, Rick Perry, and Paul Ryan are anything but candid and never gave a thought to anything. “If Romney,” the unacceptable face of Mormonism, “stumbles,” Weisberg writes, “Huntsman could emerge as an electable alternative.”
But I very much doubt that electing a Republican President is what Weisberg really has in mind. He suspects, as I suspect, that Huntsman is positioning himself to bolt from the party and denounce the eventual nominee as an extremist. Why else would someone – who can think of no grounds on which to criticize the incumbent – run for the office he holds?
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Jun '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
It's time that Vogue exits the stage of our political conversation. I'm a Mormon from Utah. Everything you quoted from that article smells of how a New York liberal views Utah, Mormons, Huntsman, and Romney through the lens of, well, New York liberalism.
There isn't a single word in the paragraphs you quoted that rings true. This whole Huntsman counter-culture thing is false from beginning to end. Funny how none of that was ever discussed part of the conversation prior to his run for president. It certainly wasn't part of "the narrative" when he was running for governor of Utah.
This is simply an essay by an Eastern liberal of how an Eastern liberal believes a real conservative should act (i.e., as a squishy centrist with leftist leanings--anyone remember Mark Hatfield?).
Sheesh.
Edited on August 22, 2011 at 12:13amJun '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
So when do we get to pick our Democratic opponent like the media tries to pick their Republican opponent? It's pretty simple. If you have to vote for a Republican, vote for this one we suggest...he will allow for us to continue to ruin the country just the way we want to.
Jun '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
Confused and on the wrong side about everything. That's the left in a nutshell. How is it possible to be so consistently wrong and never change course? Someone convince me, please, that liberalism is something other than a mental disorder.
Jun '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
Can't help myself. One more thought. His schtick about being the descendent of saloon-keepers (which may be true) creates the false impression that he's from a counterculture kind of family.
Facts: His maternal grandfather David B. Haight was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (you can't get much less counterculture than that in the Church). His father, Jon Sr., is one of the richest men in Utah and has served in, and still serves, in high positions in the Church.
He may have some counter-culture types way back in his family tree (who doesn't), but the branches from which he emerged are the very essence of inside-the-beltway Mormonism (if can use a D.C. metaphor).
Now that it's convenient to portray himself as a rebel, we're seeing the new narrative.
And do we really want a president whose only apparent distinguishing factor is that he's not a real Mormon--he only plays one for political purposes? Perry is an Evangelical and proud of it--Mitt is Mormon and proud of it: give me the sincere believer any day.
Edited on August 21, 2011 at 5:53pmDec '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
I'd love to know how Annie Leibovitz staged that photo. I certainly don't think it was an action shot. They were posed, probably with a fan. He does have beautiful daughters, though.
The problem with this scenario is Biden. Does he really go quietly? He's only 68, I don't really see him citing his age. There's no chronic health problem he can blame. I'm sure if Don Obama issues the order that he go, he can read a statement on TV like a hostage, but he's not really good at keeping his feelings to himself.
I did think that Jon Huntsman is pulling a John Anderson: Run for the GOP nomination as the only sane man in the room, have a decent (25%) showing in New Hampshire, drop out, run a third-party campaign and try to either siphon votes from the GOP or to attack the GOP candidate rather than having the incumbent do it.
That didn't work out for John Anderson, although I would contend that he made an easy win for Reagan much harder. Huntsman might, indeed, have the same path, except that he becomes Obama's running mate.
Dec '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
The VP run does have several other problems, though:
(1) The narrative is all wrong: Squishy GOP governor leaves his governorship to be ambassador to China under a Democrat, leaves that to run for the GOP nomination, fails that to become the Democrat VP nominee. Is he really a Republican or really a Democrat? Nobody can tell.
(2) He has no constituency: The only people who knew him before his presidential run are in Utah, a lock for the GOP. This run has been a disaster. He isn't even polling well in open primary states. At least the Democrat base has been defending Goofy Joe Biden for 3 years. Huntsman was an icky Republican, they won't like him for that alone.
(3) It's a stunt and Obama's been flailing a lot recently, it would just reinforce the meme that Obama is weak and desperate.
Edited on August 21, 2011 at 6:38pmDec '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
One more thing: Will somebody please ask Jon Huntsman the question.
"Will you endorse and support the eventual GOP nominee if it isn't you?"
Mar '11
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
Huntsman is McCain with better hair and without the charm. If he's anywhere near the ticket it'll blow the Republican Party to pieces, ensure Obama's re-election and probably cost the House and Senate. It's almost like someone planned this.....
Mar '11
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
Huntsman is McCain with better hair and without the charm. If he's anywhere near the ticket it'll blow the Republican Party to pieces, ensure Obama's re-election and probably cost the House and Senate. It's almost like someone planned this.....
Jan '11
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
The Left's definition of "reasonable" isn't obedience to reason; it's avoiding intellectual commitment. That's why someone who is not-really Mormon or not-really Republican is praised as "reasonable," because that's what the Left thinks reason is: relativism.
True reason commands that you change your mind when reality proves different than first thought. But that's not to say that we should refrain from all commitments, or say that "Yes, 2+2=4 for the moment, but we could be wrong." Reason demands that we respond and commit to reality, not refrain from it. If we perceive reality differently than we once did, we change our commitment ... but reason doesn't mean to withhold all commitments.
That's important because although the Left is firmly entrenched in their own dogma, they want others to be relative ... so they can more easily break down and "transform" those hated beliefs. With Huntsman, they plan to help him "evolve" once he gets inside the Beltway.
This isn't a piece about Huntsman -- it's about liberals and relativism.
Edited on August 21, 2011 at 6:59pmRe: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
AmishDude: The VP run does have several other problems, though:
(1) The narrative is all wrong: Squishy GOP governor leaves his governorship to be ambassador to China under a Democrat, leaves that to run for the GOP nomination, fails that to become the Democrat VP nominee. Is he really a Republican or really a Democrat? Nobody can tell.
(2) He has no constituency: The only people who knew him before his presidential run are in Utah, a lock for the GOP. This run has been a disaster. He isn't even polling well in open primary states. At least the Democrat base has been defending Goofy Joe Biden for 3 years. Huntsman was an icky Republican, they won't like him for that alone.
(3) It's a stunt and Obama's been flailing a lot recently, it would just reinforce the meme that Obama is weak and desperate. · Aug 21 at 9:28am
Edited on Aug 21 at 09:38 am
All too true -- but he is weak, and he will be desperate.
Dec '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
Paul A. Rahe
All too true -- but he is weak, and he will be desperate. · Aug 21 at 10:02am
I agree. One thing that I have to remember is that the Obama campaign has little to do with Obama. This is something he outsources. So if we want to know what he will do, I think we have to get into the mind of Bill Daley. My guess is that he's really overseeing the campaign.
May '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
I can't help but be cheered by this possibility. Did everyone see Huntsman's limp performance in the Iowa debate? Obama would merely be exchanging a fool for a wimp.
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
The first time you brought an article in Vogue to our attention, Paul, I held my tongue. This time? I can't contain myself.
Esteemed author, erudite historian, brilliant teacher, and committed midwesterner--Paul Rahe, what in the heck are you doing reading Vogue in the first place?
Jun '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
Peter Robinson: The first time you brought an article in Vogue to our attention, Paul, I held my tongue. This time? I can't contain myself.
Esteemed author, erudite historian, brilliant teacher, and committed midwesterner--Paul Rahe, what in the heck are you doing reading Vogue in the first place? · Aug 21 at 10:55am
Where else would he get his fashion tips?
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
Peter Robinson: The first time you brought an article in Vogue to our attention, Paul, I held my tongue. This time? I can't contain myself.
Esteemed author, erudite historian, brilliant teacher, and committed midwesterner--Paul Rahe, what in the heck are you doing reading Vogue in the first place? · Aug 21 at 10:55am
Alas, not to pick out clothes for my wife. Somewhere someone linked this piece, and I found it . . . er . . . revealing.
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
tabula rasa: Can't help myself. One more thought. His schtick about being the descendent of saloon-keepers (which may be true) creates the false impression that he's from a counterculture kind of family.
Facts: His maternal grandfather David B. Haight was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (you can't get much less counterculture than that in the Church). His father, Jon Sr., is one of the richest men in Utah and has served in, and still serves, in high positions in the Church.
He may have some counter-culture types way back in his family tree (who doesn't), but the branches from which he emerged are the very essence of inside-the-beltway Mormonism (if can use a D.C. metaphor). · Aug 21 at 8:53am
Edited on Aug 21 at 08:53 am
This is very informative. Why do you think that Huntsman was going to go along with Weisberg's schtick in this case?
Edited on August 21, 2011 at 8:56pmMay '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
When I saw that Vogue thing I surmised that Huntsman's path to the nomination involved building a coalition around a core of bulemic Manhattan socialites. Paul Rahe's theory makes much more sense, I admit.
Edited on August 21, 2011 at 8:58pmRe: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
My theory is Obama's path to re-election involves building a coalition around a core of bulemic Manhattan socialites. What does he have left?
Jun '10
Re: Obama’s 2012 Running Mate?
Excellent KC at #10. I personally would love a name change. Draw a line in the sand, be definitive, lose the moral relativism. It is no longer the Republican Party, but the Conservative Party. Let our name define us. OK,you all can stop chuckling now. And Amish Dude, in response to the Huntsman daughters in the most excellent photo op, the entire family is quite handsome. Of course, when you put them up against the Democrat babes it's not exactly a tough contest.