The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
First there were those fawning handwritten love letters that Jon Huntsman sent to Obama. And then there was Jimmy Carter. In one fell swoop, Carter has doomed the mere potential of a Huntsman candidacy.
Former Democratic President Jimmy Carter has a favorite in the race for the Republican nomination for president.
In an interview printed Wednesday by CNN, Carter said that Jon Huntsman is “very attractive to me personally.”
If I were Jon Huntsman, I'd call Jimmy up and politely ask him to take it back at once. At the very least, Carter could "clarify" that he was solely commenting on Huntsman's physical attractiveness, and not his principles or agenda. On second thought, maybe Carter really was just commenting on Huntsman's charming smile:
Carter told CNN that despite his attraction to Huntsman, his “intention is to vote for the Democratic candidate.”
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Aug '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
From what I've seen, he's the dimmest of bulbs. It's time to thin the herd.
Aug '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
No doubt he considers himself to be "bipartisan" and "moderate"... someone who will appeal to the independents. Good luck with that.
Jan '11
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
Why wouldn't you want to appeal to independents and moderates? Kind of a large demographic to write off...
Jun '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
I'm a Utahn and have a little different take, but agree with River's conclusion. I think he's quite bright, but I've never been convinced he's a real conservative. He's the son of a very, very rich man, and I get the sense that he has a sense of entitlement.
The fact that he would take a job in the Obama administration, even if it was a plum ambassadorship, speaks volumes.
Also, at one point, he was a big global warming believer. Whatever we can say about Romney (including Romneycare), he has vastly greater horsepower than Huntsman.
As to River's conclusion, I totally agree: let's cull the herd. Trump first--then Huntsman.
Aug '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
Maybe what's meant is that Republicans' attempts to appeal to independents haven't always worked so well, in the sense that if you present yourself as Democrat lite, you're not offering a real alternative, even for independents, but instead a less flavorful version of the Same Old Thing. In which case, why shouldn't folks vote for the fuller-flavored Democrat to begin with?
Also, I'm not sure that personally appealing to Jimmy Carter is the same thing as broadly appealing to independents and moderates.
Jun '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
One more comment: Isn't it a bit creepy that the worst president of the latter half of the twentieth century (yes, Nixon was better and so was Ford), and the all-time worst ex-president is assessing how good looking the candidates are?
Jul '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
Why isn't this man a Democrat?
Dec '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
There goes Jimmy, lusting in his heart again. At least, I HOPE he's only lusting in his heart....
Aug '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
If you were referring to my remark, I wasn't trying to write off such a large group. I think Huntsman is fooling himself into thinking that the squishy middle position will ingratiate himself to those groups.
Jan '11
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
tabula rasa
I'm a Utahn and have a little different take, but agree with River's conclusion. I think he's quite bright, but I've never been convinced he's a real conservative. He's the son of a very, very rich man, and I get the sense that he has a sense of entitlement.
SNIP
As to River's conclusion, I totally agree: let's cull the herd. Trump first--then Huntsman. · May 4 at 6:41pm
My first thought upon reading River's comment was "Which one, Carter or Huntsman?" Also, speaking as a Utahn, it would be a mistake to underestimate Lil Jon's intelligence. His problem is that he doesn't know what to believe in until a certain belief can be shown to help advance his political career.
Jun '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
Carter praises Huntsman. Huntsman glowingly praises Obama. Pass. Move along. Nothing to see here.
May '11
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
I can be an extremely junky political junky, but the first thing I said when Jon Huntsman was touted as a possible GOP candidate in 2012 was, "Um, who is this Jon Huntsman guy they're talking about?" When none my friends knew, I quit being lazy and did some research. I read the bios in non-conservative media lauding him as a 'moderate technocrat' and immediately knew he was the Democrats favorite type of Republican: the type that loses presidential elections...badly.
He was pro-Stimulus and is pro-cap-and trade. Could you think of a worst candidate to run as counter programming in an entirely winnable election that will be a referendum on Obama? (Okay, maybe Trump.)
May '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
Not just pro-Stimulus, he opined it wasn't big enough. That alone would be as big an albatross as Romneycare. Not quite down with the Tea Party, or the mood of the larger electorate. So he never had a chance.
His main value will be to dish some scoop on the White House during debates.
Mar '11
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
Huntsman is no "dim bulb." Listen to his interview with Charlie Rose here http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/11357 and you will be impressed with his intelligence and informed view, particularly of China. Nevertheless, I'm no fan of his. He was raised to seek the presidency and, like Obama, has no experience of the struggle to achieve prominence that marks a great man. Also, like Obama, he has a habit of testing the wind before deciding what positions to take. But perhaps that is true of all politicians.
Jun '10
Re: The Huntsman Candidacy: Over Before It Began
Huntsman was done as soon as he took a job from the [edited] rookie. You cannot go into the most left-wing administration since ever without being either unfairly yet permanently stained, or having your true colors betrayed. I think Huntsman's was the latter here.
We don't want to appeal to Obama voters, we want to change their minds. Given the choice, liberals will vote for the genuine liberal every time rather than the republican trying to appeal to liberals. Someone who writes love notes to Obama isn;t going to make them change their minds.
Edited on May 5, 2011 at 7:02am