The Manchurian Candidate, My Foot
So you're the editorial board at Newsweek, and you're trying to decide which rising star of the Republican Party and likely 2012 contender is most worth an in-depth, four-page profile, complete with quotes from anonymous sources close to the candidate speculating about his eagerness to run. You might be forgiven if Jon Huntsman wasn't the first name that came to your mind (or the second, or the third, or the fifteenth). I mean, come on. And it's not as if Newsweek was unaware that this was ridiculous, either:
Since he left for Beijing, the national media haven’t just moved Huntsman to second string in the 2012 speculation game; they’ve dropped him from the roster entirely. Of the half-dozen Republican strategists and pundits contacted by NEWSWEEK in recent weeks, not one listed him as a viable candidate in the upcoming race.
So I'm asking myself: What's Newsweek thinking here? Frankly, I suspect it's as simple as this: Someone came up with the idea of calling him the Manchurian Candidate, and they were so smitten with that nickname--he's in China, get it?--that they figured, "Darn it, we'll just make the story fit. We can't waste that."
Headline contest now open: Who else is about to be named a leading 2012 contender only because his or her biography lends itself to writing a catchy headline?
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Jul '10
Re: The Manchurian Candidate, My Foot
"Joe Walsh To Call White House 'Home'"
Jul '10
Re: The Manchurian Candidate, My Foot
Newsweek! You might as well search The Nation for fantasy Republican candidates.They never had any pretense at that organ of opinion and the bias is front, center and unapologetic. Newsweek on the other hand still retains a hunger for the kind of numbers it once had and occasionally throws a bone to the 80 percent of us who aren't Evan ("Obama is a kind of god") Thomas liberals. So stout is my distrust of that magazine trecently sold to a left-wing plutocrat for a dollar that I didn't get past the kitchen part.
Edited on Jan 2, 2011 at 5:36amNov '10
Re: The Manchurian Candidate, My Foot
For a Republican presidential candidate, MSM approval is the Kiss of Death. Just ask John McCain. The MSM promoted him, not because he was a lovable maverick, but because they believed (quite correctly) that he had no chance of winning in a general election. After all, the MSM is about 98% liberal. Why on Earth would they boost a Republican who is a real contender?
In that sense, the MSM is useful to us. As we approach 2012, we must avoid supporting any Republican candidate that the MSM likes.
Jun '10
Re: The Manchurian Candidate, My Foot
So according to LK the MSM is a contra-indicator, which would render John Huntsman--WARNING here comes the headline: The Great White Nope!
Nov '10
Re: The Manchurian Candidate, My Foot
Exactly.
Jun '10
Re: The Manchurian Candidate, My Foot
First, it's difficult to take Newsweek seriously as a reputable news publication or font of precise political prognostication. Those who purchased the enterprise for one dollar were significantly overcharged.
Given that Huntsman is the son of one of Glenn Beck's most admired philanthropic friends (and a man who should be admired), there may be something more Machiavellian here at work since Beck's website The Blaze immediately splashed the story on its home page carousel when it appeared.
Given Huntsman's positions on Cap & Trade and squishy position on illegal immigration it's difficult to believe that despite Newsweek's efforts to promote him that he will garner more than a passing yawn from the resurgent conservative movement that is now directing the course of the Republican Party.
That said, his name may have a certain appeal to members of the NRA.
Jul '10
Re: The Manchurian Candidate, My Foot
This guy.