Jon Huntsman Gotta Be Beside Himself

[iloveObama12]

in all honesty he was the best candidate to go up against Obama

[center rising]

1. I totally agree

An Obama-Huntsman matchup would have been great, and I would put my money on Huntsman!!

[The Wielding Truth]

12. It would have been better because Huntsman is sane, but I would still vote Obama because he does his

job and does it very well!

[Astazia]

30. I'll bet y'all $10,000.00

That former Governor/Ambassador, Huntsman is voting for President Obama too!


Poor Mittens....

[The Wielding Truth]

45. Yep. More proof that HUntsman is a sane yet conservative dude.

[naaman fletcher]

2. Huntsman is the last of an almost dead breed

Republicans who are relatively sane, and although I disagree with them are decent people. Not many of them left, which is why he went nowhere in the primaries.

[imanamerican63]

3. He is good man!

He seems to be honest and sincere! Unlike, Romney and the other fools who he had to get through!

[Paulie]

4. Then why is he a republican?

If he's a "good man", WTF is he doing being in a party with a bunch of wingnuts?!?!?!?!

[Angry Dragon]

8. Years ago republicans used to be human

[Paulie]

11. Exactly, years ago

Is he like the old tale about a frog in a pot not noticing the water heating to boil? A frog in real life would jump out of the pot, hence my confusion.

[Angry Dragon]

17. I would compare it to a Catholic that uses birth control, believes in abortion under certain

conditions, believes in sex education, thinks the Catholic is out of touch, etc. and still calls themselves a Catholic

[Paulie]

20. Ah, a C and E republican

Click, I see.

[Angry Dragon]

21. C and E ??????

[Paulie]

22. Christmas and Easter

Only goes to church twice a year.

[Angry Dragon]

23. okay

[KatyMan]

40. or we could say it like they do in England

Go to church 3 times in your lifetime...
bred (christening)
wed
dead

[GallopingGhost]

5. I saw him on Colbert once.

He seemed reasonably nice and good-humored.

[Alekei_Firebird]

6. Worthy challenger, unlike Mitt the Shit

[JiminyJominy]

7. Really Like

Huntsman.

is he pro-life or pro-choice?

if he's pro-choice..we should try and get him to switch parties and i'd be willing to put the guy up in 2016.

[LadyHawkAZ]

24. He is very not pro-choice n/t

[magical thyme]

41. you don't know anything about him, but you'd be willing to put "the guy" up?

Howzabout Elizabeth Warren? Or some other democrat?

[defacto7]

9. I've met him and his wife.

He definitely would have been a worthy opponent.

One of the smartest people in politics and speaks fluent Chinese. His background is Mormon, his wife Catholic but he definitely defends the separation of church and state and claims religion has no place in his politics.

[marew]

10. I thought he was the best GOP candidate also! By far!

[mzteaze]

13. After

seeing him on Colbert, I would have considered him if he had made it.

I still think, Myth is the sacrificial lamb for the 2012 GOP.

[TroyD]

14. I don't know why anyone thinks he was a credible candidate

Are people forgetting that he WORKED for Obama?

How can you turn around and run against a President you just worked for and an Administration you were just a part of?

He was Obama's Ambassador to China. He would have had no credibility complaining about an Administration that he was just part of.

And it also indicates what a blatant political opportunist he turned out to be. He was given an Ambassadorship by Obama and then turns around and runs against him?

[wisteria]

16. I think he just had a different way of thinking about and handling things.

He was never nasty when speaking about Obama.

[MotherPetrie]

18. DITTO.

[Indpndnt]

19. Look who he was running against in the primaries. He didn't want one of those nuts elected.

So, he tossed his own hat in the ring.

[davidpdx]

33. I respectively disagree

I think he could have run a campaign based on mostly domestic issues contrasting a conservative angle with no problem. The foreign policy would have been difficult, but the fact that he actually has creditably on foreign policy and can talk about the issues without shitting out his mouth like Romney did on his visit to Europe would have meant something. The problem would have been contrasting his views with that of President Obama's. Yes, he did work for the administration as an ambassador to China, but that doesn't mean he had to agree with every position Obama has on foreign policy.

Note: I'm not necessarily defending Huntsman only saying I agree with the OP that he would have been the best of the 10 or so candidates on the Republican side and that it was possible had he won the nomination he could have contrasted himself with Obama.

I think there were least a few candidates in the lot who would have been weaker than Romney like Santorum and Bachmann for starters.

[magical thyme]

42. Just because you worked for somebody doesn't mean you can't apply for their job

if you think you can do it better. The job wasn't a "gift." It was something that he was seen as being the most qualified person for it. In other words, something he's done in life suggests he "earned" it.

He'd have far more credibility "complaining" about it seeing as he would have seen it from the "inside."

[wisteria]

15. Yes, he was intelligent, knowledgeable and likable.

His campaign was just so lame.

[Merlot]

26. yes, he is all those things

but he is also a repub: anti-choice, very corporate, very conservative. I thought if he made it through the primaries he would be the biggest threat to Obama. And for a while I also thought he was smarter than the average repub, until I looked into his policies.

His policies are not any different than rmoney. He puts a nice rational face on the really bad ideas and makes them sound good. But they're still bad ideas.

[aletier_v]

25. Agree.

There's a reason that it was Romney, though. More and more, I think that Romney may have been spiritual test of the GOP. Romney is a cursed soul. Everything he touches turns to gold, which is anathema in the end.

Why couldn't the Republicans see this?

Why would they see that Herman Cain was the sin of lust?

Or that Palin was the sin of pride?

Romney is the sin of avarice and he is cursed, probably forever.

[BouzoukiKing]

31. Next up...

...gluttony, 2016.

[Carolina]

39. LOL! and welcome

to DU

[fujiyama]

27. He might have made the debate substantive

We may have had a more dignified campaign. He probably wouldn't have been constantly lying through his teeth. At the same time, this would have been a much more difficult race. It's very possible, Huntsman would have been several points ahead and winning. The real question would have been...

Never mind the meaningless hypothetical. The reality is he is a member of a party full of crazies. Unless people like him take control of the party (rather than the Koch types), we'll continue to see its appeal dwindle (well outside of the South and among middle aged and older white males).

[Ebadlun]

35. He could have been a difficult candidate

There's not a lot Obama could hit him on. The base would have hated him but fallen in line like they always do. Romney's running about the worst campaign in living memory, is deeply unlikeable and has no clear agenda at all - and he's still level in the popular vote. A better candidate could have been real trouble.

On the other hand, maybe Mitt's doing as well as he is because he's shamelessly lying and at least partly getting away with it - so maybe Huntsman wouldn't do as well by playing nice.

Who knows?

[doc03]

28. He was the only sane person in the Republican

primary clown car. So naturally he didn't get that far. If Romney loses (I think he will) the right wing wackos like Limbaugh will say it was because he wasn't a true conservative, then in 2016 they will go even crazier if that is possible.

[renate]

29. Huntsman never had a chance, with today's Republican party

I liked him, because he seemed honest. (Therefore, he was doomed from Day One.) I didn't agree with him on a lot of issues, but at least he seemed genuine in his belief in them, which I could respect.

The person I think must really be kicking himself is Tim Pawlenty. Why on earth did he drop out after one stupid straw poll at the Iowa State Fair?

[NCLefty]

32. I was semi-worried about him way back before the primary, because he seemed kind of normal (ROFL).

[underpants]

34. The only one who had a real shot

but he couldn't get past the Fox News litmus tests

[bushisanidiot]

36. Huntsman will never make it past the primaries because he doesn't spew the right

wing talking points. i hope he doesn't start bending in that direction just to have a shot
because then he'll just turn into one of "them".

[Sunlei]

37. Huntsman got tossed away early-Ron Paul supporters got screwed at the last second

McCain was right, this republican party are 'Hobbits'. Last ones to the cooking pot are tossed in.

[WooWooWoo]

38. he wasn't a better candidate, necessarily, but he would have made this a more noble race

instead of the embarassment of lies and distortion we're seeing right now.

[GeorgeGist]

43. Your purpose is quite transparent.

Huntsman endorses rMoney.

[center rising]

44. If you want to call what he said an endorsement!!

He criticized Romney over not talking about his taxes, his father was the architect of the Bain stupidity, Huntsman has not been on the campaign trail supporting Romney. He would have been the most viable candidate to face Obama!!