I'm sitting in a hotel lobby where — beyond my control — CNN has been playing. I've been here for over an hour, and I'm reading and writing, trying not to be distracted by CNN, which is mostly covering the New Hampshire primary.
So the post title is just an impression.
January 10, 2012
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It doesn't cost them anything to be all Huntsman! Huntsman! It's distraction via irrelevancy, if anything.
Huntsman is a cool dude with great communications skills.
But he cannot suggest paranoid apocalypse scenarios as well as Ron Paul.
So Huntsman serves them as a contrast to the Ron Paul mental illness bandwagon the Dem Media have also been pushing to the front of their coverage along with Huntsman.
Lo and behold, there is no time left over to cover that zany loser named Gingrich's campaign. Mission accomplished.
According to certain people in his home state, he's nothing without Dad's money, but obviously CNN loves him.
He's the best Democrat running for POTUS.
Huntsman was the Democrat's Trojan horse candidate.
Remember that 11-question candidate matching quiz everyone took in one of your overnight cafe posts? You could be one notch to the right of Genghis Khan, or 3 to the left of Karl Marx, and you'd still end up with "Huntsman" in your top 3 -- they rigged it this way.
"Huntsman, huh? I'll have to give this fellow another look-see."
It would not surprise me a bit to see Huntsman run as an independent to split the Republican vote, if Paul doesn't. If Paul runs third party, then the Democrats won't have to run Huntsman and it will save them a little money.
I suppose it's a good thing nobody watches CNN on purpose these days.
But to be fair, I was recently (last week) in Utah and had some political conversations with some folks there. They seemed to have a very favorable opinion of Huntsman. They also seemed to be of the opinion that Obama sabotaged any chances he had at the White House by giving him that appointment to China. By accepting that appointment, Huntsman either had to remain there and sit out the election or give up the post and have to face voters who would feel he was somehow aligned with the Obama administration for having accepted the appointment.
I'd prefer Huntsman over some others in the race, but I can't see a path for him now anymore than I could a few a months ago, and I believe CNN et al can't either. So they're playing around, IMO.
CNN is the best reason for buying a TV-B-GONE
http://www.tvbgone.com/cfe_tvbg_buy.tvbgpro.php
crosspatch: "...Obama sabotaged any chances he had at the White House by giving him that appointment..."
That's the meme that the Democrats created and tried to sell in the run-up before anyone announced their candidacy. They pushed it so hard, despite the fact that this unknown RINO had zero support before this appointment, that the astroturfing was flagrant.
Here's the question for Jon, "If Obama is a great leader, as you said, why should anyone vote for you to replace him?"
Impeachment supreme (in the courtroom sense).
Why don't you go up to the Front Desk, and ask them to change the channel?
Huntsman is the darling of CNN. Nuff said!
Huntsman sabotaged himself, no help from Obama needed. The guy who thinks the current Republican Party isn't "sane" isn't going to win the Republican nomination, and shouldn't.
Huntsman is slightly effeminate.
Huntsman has the best hair, by far. But he is not the tallest.
"That's the meme that the Democrats created and tried to sell in the run-up before anyone announced their candidacy. "
I was actually hearing that from people in Utah when he accepted the post. They said at the time that it looked like what Obama was doing was attempting to keep him out of the 2012 election. The man was amazingly popular in Utah and his policies were quite good for the state. Utah has a very low level of unfunded liabilities, for example, one of the lowest in the nation and is one of the most business-friendly states in the union.
My late wife's family is from there so I visit them from time to time when I take my kids to see their cousins, aunts, uncles, etc. and I get a chance to talk with them a bit. They are mostly conservatives. They feel Huntsman was a great governor and is getting a crappy deal just because he accepted that position with the administration.
In an alternate universe where Mitt had no chance of gaining the nomination, he would be the Democrat's favorite Republican.
I'm a Utahn and a fan of Huntsman. I'm hoping he surpasses expectations in NH and continues to campaign. I basically support what he stand for (there are exceptions) and I appreciate his lack of viciousness.
I am looking for pragmatism, more dialogue and less dogma.
The left's safe alternative to Obama. It's a win win for the pro-democrat media. Huntsman would never win, but just in case he did, he is acceptable.
Huntsman is John Anderson. Watch.
The MSM is in the home stretch of funneling the moderate, any moderate at the GOP primary voter.
Failing that, he's the "moderate Republican" to take the McCain/Romney spot in 2016 after Obama gets re-elected. He'll be just the guy to reform single-payer, which is what Obamacare's instant failure will lead to. And we'll be told he's the electable one.
"They feel Huntsman was a great governor and is getting a crappy deal just because he accepted that position with the administration."
The problem, crosspatch, is that he did more than just 'accept.' He wrote gushing, fawning letters to Obama, praising him as a 'great leader' (as Mark O pointed out) and strapped on the kneepads as he gushed over Little Black Jesus' foreign policy vision. That doesn't sound like someone putting country before party to andswer the call of public service; it sounds like the act of a political weasel sucking up to the current sleaze in power.
Couple that with his dismissal of the GOP base as anti-science and his current whine that we need to return to a "sane" Republican party, Huntsman is doing nothing but cementing the image that he's the MFM darling - the nice, bipartisan "Republican" who'll grow in office.
I am looking for pragmatism, more dialogue and less dogma.
Me too.
CNN is the Brian Eno of news channels. You're not supposed to know what's actually on, but rather that, subconsciously, something is on, and that is comforting. If something of substance were on, the front desk would constantly be asked to change the channel. CNN just kind of blends into the background like Brian Eno at airports.
Also, if Huntsman were to actually become the Republican nominee, he would suffer a McCain Metamorphosis, going from the media's maverick, centrist darling to a rabid, Utah-Republican extremist. His name is Huntsman, after all. Very insensitive considering what happened in Tuscon.
The one thing I thought to be good about the Republican primary process so far is that each of the contenders had their day in the sun where the media and public attention focused on them. Huntsman may be the last one to get a shot. Obviously this is good for the media, but may be good for team red as well. Might get a few of these guys ready for 2016 or 2020.
Andrew Ferguson croaks him here:
Huntsman
Doesn't Huntsman own a chemical company? If Huntsman was in the lead or the nominee we would be hearing about all the slave labor employed to make polyurethane or all the cancer his company has caused etc...
Better to run for President like Obama who had no record.
NPR has been flacking for Huntsman for months. They'd do a short lead in on the primary race and then say "There's on candidate who's not giving up - Jon Huntsman was here in Pokipsie today meeting ardent supporters." Meaning, I guess, the media. Then they'd talk about him for three minutes.
One puff piece I can understand. But they've spent more time on him than all the others put together. I have to agree with Pastafarian - he's the Democrat in the race.
If Romney were not running, then the MSM and Republican Establishment would be pushing Huntsman as the "most electable" candidate.
Peter
Awesome. I'll have to order the kit form. Thanks.
That Huntsman was Obama's ambassador should not disqualify him any more than being the father of ObamaCare is a disqualification.
Given that Newt and Perry are attacking Romney for being a capitalist at Bain Capital, whether the Republican Party is sane is a good question. Since when do Republicans excoriate capitalism?
In an age of television interviews and multiple televised debates a reasoned voice with a good personality really does stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Huntsman's demeanor reassures us that sane people may still be in charge, if we want one.
It is like still having a Dick Clark personality to moderate an American Bandstand approach to music.
Of course that ignores the late 1960s massive deluge of hard rock shamans presiding over a drug sharing world that changed everything in the music world. But it is comforting.
Huntsman's mistake was in believing the hype surrounding Obama after his election. He made the same miscalculation that Crist did and thought the President would remain popular and that he could leech some of that off of him (while also strengthening his foreign policy cred).
Imagine his horror when Obama's poll numbers crashed and he exposed himself as incompetent.
Now, such miscalculations happen to most politicians (see Romney) so it was not impossible for him to overcome it. The problem is that of the 3 methods for dealing with such screwups (accept and apologize, avoid and deflect, and attack the accuser) he chose the worst possible method in this situation.
He got pissy and decided to attack those who were criticizing him, the problem is that those people form the base. So he called them stupid or crazy in order to try and delegitimize their complaints only to be shocked that they didn't appreciate it.
"Since when do Republicans excoriate capitalism?"
De facto repub silence during the incessant Wall St. demonization by the dem left, thats when.
The only place that any semblance of free market capitalism exists any more is Main St. USA.
And Main St. is in danger as well. Globalization will spell the end if it happens as some fear.
If Huntsman mattered they would all (CNNNPRABCNBCCBSPBSMSNBC) hate him 24/7 until he stopped mattering. Look what happened to McCain when he became the nominee:
1. Hateshmearhatemisstatehate.
2. Lose.
3. Crankybutloveableelderstatesman.
I'm sure Anderson Cooper would love to see more of Huntsman, as would Shep Smith.
Which presidential candidate is a mormon, had/has a wealthy father who was successful in business, and replaced an interim, female, governor (by bumping her out of the primaries)?
Romney & Huntsman.
Didn't realize the similarity there until yesterday.
I'm a Utahn and a fan of Huntsman. I'm hoping he surpasses expectations in NH and continues to campaign. I basically support what he stand for (there are exceptions) and I appreciate his lack of viciousness.
I am looking for pragmatism, more dialogue and less dogma.
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You are really supercharging Huntsman's candidacy with your cut and paste concern trolling
That Huntsman was Obama's ambassador should not disqualify him any more than being the father of ObamaCare is a disqualification.
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Right but Romney is stating that he will repeal Obamacare while Huntsman is acting like a good media shill from start to finish.
That's kinda all the difference in the world.
Why is Huntsman seen as a moderate? Based on his policy positions, he seems pretty conservative to me. On the other hand, he seems to be dispassionate and post-partisan in his demeanor. This apparently does not play well with those who want red meat, but it would seem to be an attractive trait for the same part of the electorate who voted for Obama because he appeared dispassionate and post-partisan in his demeanor notwithstanding being pretty far to the left.
I liked Huntsman's demeanor, his rational and focused answers to questions, his conservative principles, and his moderate and well thought out approach to social issues as well as foreign policy. I also found his website to be very helpful: http://jon2012.com/issues Finally, when I looked at his family I was delighted to see really nice, talented, intelligent, honest people. That reflects well on him. For me Huntsman comes across as a very honest and intelligent man. He's not a self-aggrandizing egotist like Gingrich, shifty like Romney, cagey like Paul, intolerant like Santorum, or sleazy like Perry.
As soon as Romney locks up the nomination, Huntsman will denounce the extreme turn his beloved Republican party has taken and will agree to replace Biden as the VP candidate on the Democrat's national emergency fusion ticket. At least, this is what will happen if Obama thinks he is still in big trouble at the time.
Bender said...
If Romney were not running, then the MSM and Republican Establishment would be pushing Huntsman as the "most electable" candidate.
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Pity for you that Perry is a moron, Ron Paul and Michelle Bachmann were half - crazed zealots, and Newt is tempermentally unfit to be President.
My advise to you is hold out. Don't vote! Then no matter who wins, you can bray about how litmus test pure you are that Republicans didn't give you your Perfect Candidate.
"I am looking for pragmatism, more dialogue and less dogma."
Code for "do nothing". In other words: "Mike check!"
I'm looking for action, change, reform, and vision, with plenty of smart ideology (free market) - in short, leadership.
Sure you can pretend to want "dialogue", because some people need that facade, but please, less "pragmatism" less dogma, less dialogue.
The last thing we need is more words to be spoken. Every word spoken by the President 3 years has cost us about a billion dollars.
If you don't know that the government is simply doing and spending too much, you are not of any use whatsoever.
Yes, I want red meat! My nation is starving and all I'm seeing is rice noodles... wet ones. We need some protein. The job ahead is demanding. This is no time for another placeholder President.
Outside of his family and the media, almost no one gives a shit about the Huntsman candi-duh-cy. No way a Republican that worked as a political appointee for Obama gets anywhere in the Republican primaries. There's probably 15 other shmucks running for the Republican nomination that no one cares about either.
They'd be better off covering the Cthullu candidacy, or Richard Nixon's head in a jar running again, or even the Pat Paulsen zombie candidacy. At least there might be some yucks with those stories.
CNN is the best reason for buying a TV-B-GONE
Wouldn't it be more fun to just go full frontal Elvis?
I should like Huntsman but he just consistently turns me off.
Bender said...
If Romney were not running, then the MSM and Republican Establishment would be pushing Huntsman as the "most electable" candidate.
==============
Pity for you that Perry is a moron, Ron Paul and Michelle Bachmann were half - crazed zealots, and Newt is tempermentally unfit to be President.
My advise to you is hold out. Don't vote! Then no matter who wins, you can bray about how litmus test pure you are that Republicans didn't give you your Perfect Candidate.
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It's funny how you complain about "purists" not seeing the forest for the trees when it's clearly you who can't.
We're on the edge of a fiscal and economic cliff and we're about to fall off. The entitlement boom will go bust and a lot of other things will go bust with it. Positioning yourself for gradual change 20 years down the line is worthless.
Can Romney save us from the impending disaster? Probably not. He hasn't shown a whole lot of signs that he even knows what's coming. I'll vote for him if it comes down to him and Obama without hesitation, but in a few years I think you'll be wishing for the intemperance of Gingrich in the white house.
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