Jon Huntsman will be the nominee....Guaranteed

[Firebrand Gary]

Morning Joe had an interesting dialog that left many of the commentators "fascinated" with the Huntsman strategy. He is taking to task his fellow candidates and running right down the center. They previewed a video from his campaign that was basically "Obama has failed" but he is still a good person type message. Having my say in creating some of these campaign videos, I can tell you that it was sharp and of high quality. I bet he starts to run away with it.

Let's be serious, Bachman, Palin, Perry will not be the nominee. Hell or high water, Rove will masterfully manipulate this process to place in a moderate who can win. Keep your eyes peeled on the person Sarah Palin fails to attack. You will have your nominee.

I am calling it now, it will be Jon Huntsman and Marco Rubio as VP.

[SpiralHawk]

1. "But, but, but...he's been suckered by the lib climate-change conspiracy." - RepubliBaggers (R)

[Firebrand Gary]

2. His GOP counterparts will not even touch him for it. Watch.

[cali]

3. not even a ghost of a chance. Huntsman has no chance at all of being the republican nominee

[Firebrand Gary]

6. Have you heard about the new GOP nominating process?

I am asking as a question, I do not really know at the moment but I am going to look into it. The GOP fervently hates Obama, they will orchestrate their nominee. Watch!

[cali]

13. New in what way? Look, not only is Huntsman virtually unknown,

but he holds positions that are simply anathema to the vast majority of repub primary voters.

[Firebrand Gary]

15. To my point. Those Republicans will vote for Big Bird over Obama.

That said they are going to go for the center. It is their only chance. To do that they are going to get really creative, I would not be surprised if they did not have a nominee until the convention.

[cali]

18. sorry, he has no chance whatsoever of getting the nomination. None. Zero. Zilch.

He'll drop out before year's end.

[Firebrand Gary]

22. Here ya go.

New GOP rules forbid any contests held before April 1 to award all of a state’s delegates to the statewide winner. That could be a major concern to Republican leaders in many early-voting states, who used winner-take-all in the past to attract the interest of candidates and enhance their state’s influence. If their state votes before April 1 next year, it will be required to provide for the division of delegates proportionately among candidates to reflect their share of the vote.

[cali]

28. So? How does that help Huntsman get votes? I don't think you grasp who votes in the repub

primaries? The guy won't get over 5% ANYWHERE.

[Firebrand Gary]

35. No, no my friend. Hear me out.

With the new rules (as I understand them) the electoral votes have got to be divided up in those first four states. Huntsman will target and win NH just to put himself on the map. But those four states have to have the votes divided up proportionately, with all the candidates in the game there will be no winner. In the past it used to be winner take all, that is no longer the case. Therefore, once those states are out of the way and you get states like California and Florida into the mix, Huntsman will run away with it. Those states and states like them are going to look for the moderate, the grown up.

[cali]

38. Again, his chances of coming in higher than 4th in NH are slim to none.

Why on earth do you think he can win NH? And Iowa? Nope. SC? No, no and no. sorry, but thinking Huntsman will be the nominee, borders on the delusional.

[Firebrand Gary]

41. He will note win Iowa, SC, he does not have to.

It's no longer winner take all, do the math.

[cali]

50. And he won't win NH either. He needs early momentum. He doesn't have it now and he won't have it

later. this guy can't get past the tea party.

[karynnj]

100. The Democrats do not have winner take all in any states - and while

mathematically, someone could lose Iowa and other early states and still win, it does not seem to happen. In Huntsman's case, one problem will be that he will split the moderate vote in NH with Romney - if this split occurs, I think it could lead to a RW Republican winning NH. (If either Bachmann or Perry gets Iowa, NH, and SC, I suspect that he/she will win the nomination.)

[karynnj]

96. Do you think he can beat Romney in NH?

NH is a must win for Romney.

[SwampG8r]

129. you dont know jack about florida

dont mean to be snotty but as a life long floridian i can tell you dont know the state very well
the more rabid they are the better they do
huntsmans quiet demeanor is political death here
he will be percieved as too weak

[karynnj]

95. I wonder if the current polls showing it is close for ALL Republicans

will work against that. I think that the Gallup poll might have some problems as it is out of line with the others, but they are certainly reputable and I assume that as Democrats grabbed any poll that showed us better positioned, the Republicans will too.

If they see that Obama's numbers are low enough that most Republicans have a good shot of winning, they will be unlikely to settle.

Try to pretend that the parties are switched and you have a Republican President, who once had unassailable numbers, but they have fallen into the low 40s - and the economy is completely awful. Just from the numbers, Obama is in worse shape - at this point - than GHWB and I think even Carter. From their POV, this may be one of few chances where they can elect a charismatic RW Republican. (Fortunately for us, none of their candidates are really charismatic - and the fact that Republicans keep looking for "someone else" suggests they know it)

I agree that someone like a Huntsman might have a really good chance of winning - while someone on the right would lose, but I would suspect that even if Rove et al see this, the Republican primary voters won't.

[spooked911]

4. perhaps but I doubt it. And I don't see how Huntsman is different enough from Obama

except for the official (R) designation.

[Firebrand Gary]

7. Once he clears the nomination, he is going to have mass appeal.

[cali]

24. There is simply no way he gets the nomination. Where does he win?I

Iowa? Hardly. Iowa is famous for it's super right wing primary voters. NH? Not likely. South Carolina? Even less likely.

[Firebrand Gary]

27. NH is an easy pick up for him.

Once he clears those first states (See my post on your other comment) he will run away with it.

[cali]

29. NH??? Bwahhahahaha. You ever even been there?

Seriously, he doesn't stand a chance in NH. And I know that primary well.

[Firebrand Gary]

43. So do I, I worked that primary campaign in 08 and we won.

[cali]

45. huh? you worked the repub primary in NH in '08?

[Firebrand Gary]

49. Hillary.

[cali]

58. two entirely different animals, my friend- the repub and dem primaries in NH

[muriel_volestrangler]

76. 3% in a New Hampshire straw poll - behind Thad McCotter

Who on earth is McCotter? And you think that NH is an 'easy pick up' when he gets results like this?

Paul took 45 percent of the 302 votes cast while former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, who is leading in the Granite State, took second place with 10 percent.
...
Despite his lead in almost every poll of New Hampshire, Romney ignored the event. So did Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania. Their campaigns did not send representatives to the event and they did not set up tables.

Perry of Texas and U.S. Rep. Thad McCotter of Michigan tied for third with 8 percent followed by former Gov. Gary Johnson of New Mexico with 6 percent. Two favorites of the tea party -- businessman Herman Cain and U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota -- took 5 percent each. Former Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah, Santorum of Pennsylvania and former Gov. Buddy Roemer of Louisiana garnered 3 percent each. Gingrich, with two write-in candidates, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and U.S. Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin each took 1 percent. Activist Fred Karger took less than 1 percent.

http://www.sunshinestatenews.com/story/ron-paul-crushes-field-new-hampshire-straw-poll

Or take a NH poll: Romney 36%, Perry 18%, Paul 14%, Bachmann 10%, Cain 3%, Huntsman 3%

http://nhjournal.com/2011/08/17/poll-romney-rocks-perry-pops-bachmann-doesn%E2%80%99t-bounce/

Is this whole thread meant to be comedy?

[MilesColtrane]

109. In New Hampshire polls Romney is beating Huntsman by almost 30 points right now.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2012/president/nh/new_hampshire_republican_presidential_primary-1581.html

[coalition_unwilling]

112. Romney has NH in the bag, if only as a favorite son of sorts - n/t

[Warren Stupidity]

5. sure he will

[chillspike]

8. McCain was the moderate choice

and he didn't win.

[Firebrand Gary]

12. Yes, but that was a pendulum year.

[Uben]

9. Martin? Is that you? Did you have a dream?

John Who? There is no way he will beat out Romney. It doesn't matter because none of them have a chance against Obama.

[Firebrand Gary]

14. He has 10x the amount of money Romney has.

Huntsman can wait it out until he gets to states with moderate voters. It's not even an issue.

[cali]

31. Guess what? There aren't any states with moderate republican primary voters.

Name one.

[Firebrand Gary]

39. California, Florida, New York and Illinois will give him exactly what he needs.

[cali]

42. He'll be long gone by then. And even in those states, primary voters won't go for him.

[Firebrand Gary]

44. Remember this conversation.

[cali]

46. oh, I've bookmarked this thread for amusement

and to remind you of how wrong you are.

[Firebrand Gary]

51. Your funny. =)

[KamaAina]

115. Indeed. Florida is well known for its moderate repukes.

Like the ones who just elected pRick Scott, for instance. :sarcasm:

Even NY State repukes succumbed to the teabagger virus, in the particularly odious form of Carl "Racist Emails" Paladino.

[coalition_unwilling]

114. No, he does not. Romeny leads the GOP pack in early fund-raising. There

are no moderate primary voters in the Repiglican party any longer. They're all batshit certifiably 100% insane.

[trumad]

10. First question that comes into mind.

Who?

Not a chance in hell...

[Firebrand Gary]

17. I'm standing by it.

[Firebrand Gary]

11. Huntsman also has the Governors illusive white whale. *Foreign Policy Experience*

[Skidmore]

16. Just heard on ABC early morning news that Huntsman said he'd

be happy to be the VP choice if Bachmann were the candidate.

[Tennessee Gal]

20. Ooops. That is not rational.

[Firebrand Gary]

21. Standard statement to balance out his reasoning for working with Obama.

"When your asked to serve your country, you serve"

[Glimmer of Hope]

25. Lol! Not a rational one in the bunch.

[Tennessee Gal]

19. He is certainly more rational than the rest of the bunch.

It will be interesting to watch if he picks up steam.

[Firebrand Gary]

23. Sarah will do the dirty work for him is my guess.

[Owlet]

26. You could be on to something

I certainly wouldn't write Huntsman off at this juncture. He's articulate, rationale, and the only knock on him that I've seen is that he offshored his business to avoid EPA strictures here. Not so sure about Rubio, though. I think I understand where you're coming from in picking him - Latino, big electoral state, Southerner - but it wouldn't surprise me if those attributes turned off more independents than attracted them.

I'm trying to come up with a more or less sane GOP female to balance the ticket, but that particular variety seems rather thin on the ground. There's Susan Collins, of course, but most GOPers I come in contact with see her as a RINO. How about Meg Whitman?

Great fun, this: like trying to pick the NCAA Men's basketball champs.
:D

[Firebrand Gary]

30. Rubio is there guy.

I hear you on balancing the female part of the ticket. Collins is not politically strong enough, IMHO. Whitman's campaign was a disaster here in CA, no chance.

Look to Nikki Haley or Susanna Martinez.

[cali]

32. Perry/Rubio or Romney/Rubio is a thousand times more likely.

[Firebrand Gary]

54. Romney/Rubio is my number two guess.

[KamaAina]

135. An all-brown repuke ticket?!

That'll be the day!

[AlinPA]

33. He does not appeal to the republican base. Teabaggers, bigots, "Christian" fundamentalists,

birthers, and the anti-government types will never vote for him in the primaries. Teabaggers rule the party now.

[Shagbark Hickory]

80. That's precisely why he'll win the primaries. The teabaggers will stay home.

[AlinPA]

83. With the crazies running, I'd think the republican base would show up at the polls.

[Shagbark Hickory]

90. I don't think there's enough of them. I know it sounds like everyone is a teabagger because they're

loud. And crazy. But people said the same thing about McCain and he soared all the way to the top. And I do mean all the way.

[AlinPA]

117. It's not an illusion that they control the republican party now. I'm looking for Palin to announce

and for the media to go berserk along with her right-wing followers. In a few months the media will have the "contest" among Palin, Perry and Bachmann sucking up all the air time and attention. The others will be bystanders polling in the single digits.

[Douglas Carpenter]

34. if he can win over the tea party and the fundamentalist Protestant right - he can win the nomination

[cali]

36. and he does that how? Not by dissing creationism and supporting science.

[Douglas Carpenter]

40. well, that's my point...

I doubt that he can. The reality is that the right-wing grass roots activist are calling the shots more in the GOP these days more than anytime since 1964.

[Firebrand Gary]

48. The right wing grass roots are puppets to the Tea Party.

The powers that be of the Tea Party (The Koch Brothers) will get the nominee they want.

[cali]

57. And what makes you think they back Huntsman?

[Douglas Carpenter]

66. a Mormon who believes in evolution and supports civil unions for gay couples

As you know Gov. Huntsman like Mitt Romney is a Mormon. That is one strike against him already in terms of winning the Republican nomination. But a Mormon who believes in evolution...that's two strikes against him. Huntsman has strongly supported civil unions for gay couples for years, As Utah's Governor, he supported legislation that would have allowed civil unions for same-sex couples in the state.

So we have a Mormon who believes in evolution and supports civil unions for gay couples. Even Karl Rove will have trouble marketing that to the tea party and the fundamentalist right.

[AlinPA]

84. Further, he said he believed in science. That ruins him in their party.

[karynnj]

102. I agree - and especially in the way that he is doing it

He is completely in their face on that. This was different than if he would have sat for a serious interview and honestly answered that he believed in evolution and man made climate change. I would think that makes it harder for them to simply agree to disagree on that and support him anyway.

[AlinPA]

37. No chance of that - his statement on evolution and science ruined him in the republican

party.

[H2O Man]

47. His current strategy

increases the chances that the news media will provide more background reporting on him. The more this happens, the more support he will get.

Also, the "rat pack" will now be watched for any hint of a coordinated reaction to his charges. That, too, will benefit Jon H.

[Firebrand Gary]

52. You got it.

[cali]

53. I don't see how the media providing more background on him, helps him with the party base.

the guy is far too sane for today's republican primary voters.

[Firebrand Gary]

56. The Koch Brothers will get their nominee.

[cali]

60. Rick Perry?

[Firebrand Gary]

61. NO CHANCE OF WINNING THE GENERAL.

[cali]

64. Oh, I don't know about that. It's what people said about Bush.

and in any case, he could certainly win the nomination.

[H2O Man]

62. In terms of

the Tea Party -- which the media presents as the only republican base, rather than simply the loudest, most active segment -- it probably will not help in the primaries in most states. But there are at least two other significant factions.

His semi-pro-science stances would appear likely to hurt him with the southern christian base. Plus, he is a Mormon. But his religious views, which he pretends to downplay, will actually serve him well with that population .... if only because he provides a contrast to his third cousin, Mitt. His wife is Protestant. Some of his children attend Christian churches. He offers a bridge be3tween the flat-earthers and those in contact with reality.

More, there is still the establishment republican base. On one hand, they might view 2012 much like 1964 -- let the crazy wing have a chance to fall flat. But that has a long-term risk. There were numerous cross-over votes in 2008. They simply cannot afford that again. More, they can't afford the Tea Party to split and become a virtual third party.

Certainly, JH is still an underdog. But his current tactics open a big door for him.

[nenagh]

55. I wondered that myself...

He came out swinging.. so to speak..

He may have to lose the pink tie, from the Sunday chat shows

;-)

[Firebrand Gary]

59. Sarah Palin will do the dirty work, watch to see who she wants to crown.

[leftstreet]

130. ...

any circumstances under which he'd choose her as VP?

[Ganja Ninja]

63. Not a chance.

Jon Huntsman is Mitt Romney's stalking horse.

[RevStPatrick]

81. Jon Huntsman is Mitt Romney's cousin.

And he'll end up having the same "Mormon problem."

[Pirate Smile]

65. He is not going to be the nominee. That's like in 2004 when Lieberman ran. The

Democrats were never going to nominate him because they knew he did not represent the party.

It'll be Romney or Perry. Romney if they focus on electability - it'll be him not Huntsman. Or they go for it with Perry.

Don't forget that this is the Party that nominated Angle & O'Donnell KNOWING the media & the center considered them unelectable.

edit to add - plus, now that they consider Obama very vulnerable, they may go with who they want - Perry - because they believe any of them can actually win so they need not focus primarily on electability.

[Demonaut]

67. I agree nt

[Ikonoklast]

68. What are your current hot stock tips?

Because I'll do the exact opposite.

Huntsman and I have the exact same chance of winning the Republican nomination...absolutely none.

Palin is rapidly becoming poison with her support due to her increasingly negative ratings among likely Republican voters, she will be a non-entity in this next election except as a clown to laugh at.

[Firebrand Gary]

69. Uhhh, buy gold??? lol

[muriel_volestrangler]

134. Of course; the next day: "Gold stumbles 5.6% on worst day since March 2008"

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-stumbles-56-on-worst-day-since-march-2008-2011-08-24?link=MW_story_latest_news

OK, I know you weren't being serious, but you have to admit it's funny.

[Douglas Carpenter]

70. exactly,,the GOP nominating a Mormon who believes in evolution and who supports gay civil unions is

about as likely as the Democratic Party nominating a fundamentlist who is openly against teaching evolution, doesn't believe in global warming and is against even gay civil unions.

[Aerows]

72. Exactly n/t

[Aerows]

71. Huntsman has the same problem Romney has

They are Mormons. You won't get older conservatives to touch them with a ten foot pole unless they are from Utah. Southern conservatives won't go for them.

[Shagbark Hickory]

79. Southern conservatives will vote for anyone who isn't a Muslin from Kenya especially if

limbaugh tells them to.

[Aerows]

82. You are in Georgia

I'm in Mississippi. Trust me, I have plenty of conservative family members - and I'm sure you have some, too. They aren't going to vote for anyone who isn't a white Christian male. That's the other reason Michele Bachmann doesn't have a chance...well, other than the fact that she's batshit crazy.

Rick Perry is going to end up being the nominee, or someone similar to him.

[Shagbark Hickory]

92. Geogia and mississippi are irrelevant. The question is who can win in

IN, MO, OH, FLOREEDUH, NC and VA

[leftynyc]

73. I don't see how

You make a good argument for him being a good general election candidate but first he has to get past the whackos who vote in the pub primaries. First, he's Mormon - plenty of evangelicals don't even think they're Christian. Second, he worked for Pres Obama - nuff said about that. Third, he's not insane - he does believe in climate change - which will set off the rush/fox talking heads. I don't see how he gets past the primaries.

[AlinPA]

86. He said he believed in science. He's toast in the republican party.

[SidDithers]

74. Some here thought he should be on the Democratic ticket...nt

Sid

[spanone]

75. he's far too sane for the insane ones.

[Epiphany4z]

77. It will be interesting to watch

I think it could happen....and who says the primary votes will get counted properly.

[Shagbark Hickory]

78. I agree. I've been saying for months that it'll be the guy nobody's even paying attention to now.

And I'm not talking about Ron Paul.

I don't know about the Rubio part but I can totally see Huntsman being the frontrunner.

[Aerows]

85. You are right about the guy nobody is paying attention to

There really is no telling who they are going to dredge up to run. I don't think Governor Goodhair is going to be the one, but you never know.

[Shagbark Hickory]

110. Which gov? I'd see perry more a possibility in 2016. It's just too soon for another Bushlike pres.

[Schema Thing]

87. I'd say he is by far the biggest danger to an Obama second term

whether he can get the Republican nomination or not remains to be seen.

[elocs]

88. Long thread. I think you've gotten most of your post count in this OP.

Although this seems to have become a pissing contest of you against anyone else who posts.

People disagree with me all the time but I can concede they may have a point and that I might be wrong.

[ThatPoetGuy]

89. This is the most ridiculous post I've seen in a while.

And I've been known to read the guns forum.

There is no chance -- none -- that Huntsman will win the nomination.

[cecilfirefox]

91. I think that's a bit far to push-

And Karl Rove is a Fox News analyst, his time in the political sphere is mostly over- I do not think he has the sort of weight you are ascribing to him. Furthermore, there is still a large process here- and you are right about one insinuation, John Huntsman is a moderate Republican and a moderate Republican is our WORSE general election candidate. That is the political reality. However, as we all know, primaries and caucuses are dominated by the core(sometimes labeled extremes) of each party- Huntsman has a long way to go in what is an uphill battle for him.

[tinrobot]

93. Bachman and Perry will split the wingnut vote

Romney will fail to energize the rest of the partially sane Republicans.

I think those people will go with Huntsman. He'll definitely win New Hampshire, maybe the whole thing.

[woo me with science]

94. That depends on whether the PTB want a Democrat or a Republican as President.

There are certain conveniences to them of having a Democrat in office, most notably the lack of a unified opposition as they focus on the social safety net.

[KoKo]

103. Agree and whether Obama signals tiredness with it all.....

He's been pretty pissy lately. Looking very tired of it all. Many of his policies which mimic Bush and promote the PNAC have angered part of his own party activists who worked hard to get a Dem House and Senate which Tim Kaine gave away in the House. Obama will have almost completed the map laid out by Cheney/Rumsfeld and PNAC in the Middle East with only Iran being one he and the MIC might not be able to accomplish before his first term ends.

I think it will come down to who PTB/MIC/MEDIA/Corporates want to move forward and who is the more willing of the two.

Huntsman will appeal to Repugs who aren't TeaParty. And, TeaParty and the crazies are smaller numbers than we think because they are so hyped by Koch and Murdoch influence to seem bigger than they are. There are moderates in the South who are disillusioned with Obama but will not vote for Religious Crazies and many more Moderates in the rest of the country who are sick of both parties.

Huntsman so far hasn't seemed to have a "fire in the belly" to win. But, it's not up to him or his fire. It's up to those other factors I said above. That's just my 2Cents worth...of course.

[woo me with science]

107. Great post.

I think you are pretty much on the money here. (pun unexpectedly apt)

[SoCalDem]

97. Nope..

The republican party has been taken over by crazies.. They will pick the least crazy (by their standards) of their current stable of crazies..

The "sensible" republicans cannot control their tea party monsters,and they control the primaries . and they would never vote for a Mormon..

Unless Perry screws up really badly, I think he will be the guy..:(

[Little Star]

98. I personally believe that...

The Republican PTB do not want to win in 2012. They are doing just fine with their agenda with things like they are. They didn't want 2008 either so that there would be time to get the light off GWB's 2 terms.

2016 is when they will put out their A team. At that time GWB is a long distant memory and the Dem's will have had 8 long years that they can scream about!

Obama could sit on his hands doing nothing till the 2012 election and he would still win it. There will be no viable Dem challenger in a primary and the republicans will not put out their A team for 2012. It will be Obama, period!

We will have to fight for our lives in 2016 because that's when the R's will make their move.

IMHO, 2012 is already a done deal! We "win", they gladly loose, just like 2008. That is what TPTB have planned! Mark my words.

[NV Whino]

99. I came to the same conclusion a couple of days ago

He's the only one who is remotely sane, and don't forget about all the Democrats who are disappointed with Obama. IMO Huntsman is just the one who can make them jump ship.

[WI_DEM]

101. If there was a sane wing of the GOP, then yes, but there isn't one any longer, so he will not

be the nominee--guaranteed. Perhaps he will endorese President Obama, though.

[KoKo]

104. The sane wing actually supported Obama. But, many are not happy with his economic policy.

There really are sane Repugs who have money and influence. Much will depend on them...and how Obama's polling goes if the economy is still in the tank. Obama has carried forth the Repug agenda of toppling Dictators in ME like Bushies but foreign policy accomplishments won't help him get re-elected if the jobless rate and despair the country is going through continues. Also, if some folks who caused this mess aren't prosecuted for their crimes.

I hope Obama can turn things around, but he might be weak enough that PTB will decide it's time for him to go even though he accomplished much of their agenda he will be seen as too unpopular.

[WilliamPitt]

105. In 2016.

[The Midway Rebel]

106. I hope not.

As evidenced here in this thread, a sane GOP nominee is the Democrats worst fear.

[MilesColtrane]

108. How much you want to bet?

How about a $20 donation to DU from the loser?

[ThoughtCriminal]

111. OK I'll step in that alternate universe for a moment

OK... Wow the sky is green and Earth has four moons, but I'll try to ignore that for now and ask:

What would Obama's strategy be against Huntsman?

[Tiggeroshii]

113. The guy who trusts science? Doubt it...

[proud patriot]

116. Then we dems have some serious work to do

as I see him as the most challenging opponent.

[0rganism]

118. ya know, I gotta give you some credit for going out on this limb

You're right about one thing for sure: the Rove machine has to be looking at the current bench of RW wackadoos and cursing under their breath. It's one thing to sell a candidate to the fanatics, but quite another to sneak that shit by in the general election.

I agree that he's moderate enough to present a huge stumbling block for Obama in the general. However, with Obama running at sub-Carter approval levels, moderate appeal isn't something the republicans necessarily have to worry about.

[Douglas Carpenter]

119. would the Democrats nominate a economic populist leftist who was a staunch social conservative?

Because that would be the rough equivalent of the Republicans nominating Jon Huntsman. On economics Gov. Huntsman does pass all the right litmus test. But today's conservative coalition is based on uniting economic conservatives and religious/social conservatives. But it is the religious/social conservatives who are the grass roots foot soldiers while it is the right-wing economic agenda that is given real legislative and administrative priority. Conversely in the Democratic Party coalition a more liberal social agenda is pretty much what defines today's Democratic Party and even the prevailing definition of a liberal or progressive. While even old time New Dealer economic populism has been relegated to the fringe of the legislative and administrative agenda. Although the vain hope that the Democratic Party will rediscover its New Deal economic populist roots remains a driving force in what motivates Democrats to be Democrats in spite of the economic populist agenda being long abandoned by both the elected and non-elected Democratic Party leadership. But the Democratic Party leadership knows that left-wing economic populist have no where else to go.

For the Republican Party to nominate John Huntsman they would be to a significant degree dropping their social-conservative agenda just as the Democratic Party had long ago dropped its economic left agenda. Like the Democratic Party leadership toward economic New Dealers, the Republican leadership would have to calculate that the social conservative will vote for them anyway because they have no where else to go.

If Gov. Huntsman was to win the nomination and go on and win the White House the Republican Party coalition would be completely redefined toward traditional economic issues perhaps even leading to a return to the days when political alignment was defined by economics rather than issues of social conservatism versus social liberalism.

[LetTimmySmoke]

120. I would not count out Perry.

[Critters2]

121. How's he gonna get the crazy vote?

Of course, the fact that he believes he's going to become a god after he dies does kind of blow a hole in the whole "he's the rational one" argument.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

122. Bookmarked.

:*

[michaelslomo]

123. There is not the slightest chance on God's green earth . . .

that Huntsman will be the nominee. No way that dog hunts, man. If repubs think Mittens is too RINOish, Huntsman is even more so. Those two are going after the same votes, and Romney would seem to have them locked up.

The repub nominee will either be Romney (toward the center) or Perry (to the right). Palin could sneak in there, but i doubt it.

[trackfan]

124. I think he has no chance.

Now, if the Republican nominee were chosen by party insiders, they would probably choose him, and, with the economy as it is, he would have a good shot at winning in a general election. In the real world, however, R primary voters will predominate in choosing the nominee, and there is no way he has a shot with that group after basically acknowledging that the world is not flat.

[jmowreader]

125. I wish, but it won't be...

The teabaggers are going to decide the nominee, because they're the ones who vote in Republican primaries.

My bet is it'll be Michele Bachmann with an equally-insane male who is not Rick Perry as her running mate. Perry's problem is, if he starts getting any momentum, the Bachmann and Palin camps will hire robocall companies to inform the electorate that the "Texas Miracle" was performed by growing the government twice as fast as the private sector was shedding jobs, and by using "Obama Failed Stimulus Dollars" to balance the Texas budget.

That will end Perry's chances, which brings us to the option of Bachmann or Palin. Someone stuck a fork in Palin ages ago. At this point the best thing Palin can do for the Republican Party is to use her Faux Noise Bully Pulpit to try to get her few remaining supporters to come to the polls and vote for Bachmann.

[michaelslomo]

127. But what if the teabaggers split their vote?

You said, "The teabaggers are going to decide the nominee, because they're the ones who vote in Republican primaries." But what if the teabaggers split their vote? That's what happened last time, when the "Not McCain!" primary voters were divided among several candidates, and that's how McCain got the nomination. This time round, the teabaggers could split their vote among Perry, Bachmann, et al., which would leave the more "moderate" votes--and the nomination--for Romney. Yes, Romney, not Huntsman (who is going after the same votes as Romney).

[lindysalsagal]

126. Tomorrow is a latter day! "Hello. My name is Elder Huntsman. and I would

like to share with you the most amazing book. It's superfun....."


(Translation for most of you who have not heard the soundtrack to the Book Of Mormon:)

He's a member of a delusional cult. Hey- I actually like the guy, but, no way will the GOP back him.

"I am a mormon, and a mormon just believes!!!"

[akbacchus_BC]

128. You are joking, right! Never in a million years will he be the nominee

but if he is, all the better for President Obama.

[democrat2thecore]

131. No way would the Repub base nominate a Huntsman -nt

[ProgressoDem]

132. Oh, shit.

That is a terrifying pick because it's two reasonable-appearing guys.

[stevenleser]

133. He's polling at or less than 3% nationally and in all state polls. Hes done before he started.

The Repug base isnt the slightest bit interested in him or what he says.

More of my thoughts here ---> http://www.ibtimes.com/blog/steven-leser_103/jon-huntsman-2012-tea-party-republican_143.htm

[hifiguy]

136. Not one chance

The mere fact that he believes in science is enough to keep him parsecs away from the nomination in a primary process dominated by mouth-breathing simpletons with seven toes on each foot.