His Allowance Has Been Spent
John Huntsman will withdraw (or suspend his campaign) from the GOP 2012 Presidential primary system. This will end his hopeful run for the nomination. Hopeful because Huntsman presented a saner and more trustable face to the Republican Party. The GOP loss is also a loss to the Country.
To be sure there is no evidence that Abraham Lincoln is withdrawing from the race. Jon Huntsman has had a successful career in the sense that no scandal or huge mistake can be assigned to his watch. No one really knows how he would act if he actually were the President. There are no easy calls in the Oval office.
If Huntsman had won the nomination, he would have inherited the luke warm support of the Republican base. Even his Mandarin words would have had limited value. Winning the general elections was no sure thing. And worst of all, if elected, his GOP legislative support would still be badly fractured, so making sweeping change would be extremely problematic.
None the less, I held the hope that in the really big matters, the ones that count, Huntsman would have steered a different course than I expect Romney, Gingrich, Paul, or Perry to follow. What ever changes to Medicare that might have emerged in a Huntsman Administration, I don’t believe he would have allowed Americans to be denied coverage or priced out of the market due to pre-existing conditions. I don’t believe Huntsman would accept the counsel of draft dodgers like Dick Chaney, Richard Perle, or Paul Wolfowitz. For Huntsman, going to war is a really big decision and requires an imminent threat. And I also don’t believe Huntsman would nominate to the Supreme Court anyone as far to the right as Alito, Scalia, or Thomas. Even Huntsman knows corporations aren’t people.
But what could have been will not be this time. And, we should not expect Mitt Romney to select Huntsman as running mate. Two Mormons, I think not.
Reports will say Jon Huntsman just couldn’t “get traction”. Probably more to the truth is that Huntsman’s message was too new to the good citizens of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. Speaking without referencing god every other word or warning of socialism or relying upon negative messages about his opponents is not the normal way in these States.
And, let’s not overlook that while Huntsman is a wealthy person (and son of a very wealthy man), he had an advance from his father to finance his campaign. He spent it all and did not generate enough positive signs. Good businessmen know how to cut their losses.
This time Huntsman’s allowance has been spent. Maybe in four years he can save enough to make a big league run. I just hope he doesn’t change his message.
This entry was posted on January 16, 2012 at 11:24 am and is filed under Barack Obama, Democratic Party, Dick Cheney, Politics, Republican Party. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.
Tags: 2012 election, antonin scalia, clarence thomas, gop, jon huntsman, medicare, paul wolfowitz, richard perle, samuel alito
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