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Jon Huntsman’s Legitimacy: A Near Sexual Fantasy for Some on the Left

By: Erick Erickson (Diary)  |  August 26th, 2011 at 11:59 AM  | 

RESIZE: AAA

At what point does Jon Huntsman’s campaign begin to look like a sexual fantasy for the some lefties in the media and the left in general and not like a Presidential campaign? At this point I think. His only useful purpose has become being the pin up Governor that the left can fixate on, breath lustily at, and whisper “if only the Republicans were like him.”

With a hat tip to Ben Domenech’s awesome Transom, I found this post at the Corner by Katrina Trinko.

The Politico and NBC are doing the next GOP Debate. Why the GOP would want to do a debate with the Politico and NBC — both of which have a well documented history of being mouthpieces for Obama (First question: What’s it like to be a Christofascist terrorist, Ms. Bachmann?) — is beyond me.

In any event, they set the criteria to get into the debate as “4 percent in one of eight national prominent polls of Republicans taken since November 2010.”

Why not a more round number like 5%?

Well, that’d exclude Jon Huntsman who, on only one occasion ever, has polled at 4%, getting no higher than that. Any lower and you’d have to start inviting folks like Gary Johnson.

In Mason Dixon’s latest poll of Florida, a state Jon Huntsman says he intends to be competitive in and has gone so far as to issue press releases responding to obscure Democratic Party chairmen in Florida counties, Huntsman polls at zero percent.

In the most recent New Hampshire poll, Huntsman polls at 3%. — also a state he wants to do well in.

In the most recent national Gallup poll, Huntsman polls at one percent.

It has become apparent that Jon Huntsman’s purpose in the Republican Primary is to be a useful foil for the media to club the rest of the GOP pack. And perhaps to set the staging ground for Huntsman to launch a third party vanity bid for the White House as a way to help re-elect Barack Obama.

How is the former Governor of Utah polling at 1% nationally more legitimate than the former Governor of New Mexico polling at 0% or businessman Herman Cain who polls at 4%?

Answer: he’s not, except he provides use to the media the others do not.

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  • http://www.floridapoliticalpress.com/ tomtflorida

    In an interview airing Thursday on PBS?s ?Newshour,? Huntsman said, if elected, he would consider asking the richest Americans to ?sacrifice.?

    ?As president, I wouldn?t hesitate to call on a sacrifice from all of our people, even those at the very highest end of the income spectrum,? Huntsman said.

    No thanks, Governor, we trying to get rid of the one currently in the WH that’s already redistributing wealth.

  • Repair_Man_Jack

    The longer he stays in the race and debates, the more practice legitimate GOP candidates receive in answering left-of-center talking points.

  • mikefisk

    …how much of this is intentional, resulting ultimately in me getting a rush of schadenfreude when Huntsman runs as a third-party candidate and uses his newly-acquired mainstream accolades to kneecap Obama, doing more service to the GOP than he ever possibly could by running a traditional conservative campaign (which, coming from Huntsman, would seem almost as disingenuous as his current act).

    Not sure I’d give him that much credit, but that’s what it smacks of, and it keeps wanting to make me say “do it, run as a third party”. Not that I’d vote for him, mind you – but the potential to make people’s heads explode on the Left would be epic.

  • Scope

    and he pointed out that Huntsman is at the bottom in polling, and has consistently come in at the bottom. He asked Huntsman if he were concerned with that. Huntsman replied that he was not concerned at all, and is right where he wants to be. He referred to Thompson and Guuliani being the front runners early in the 08 race, and well, look where they wound up. Is he delusional, or does he have something else up his sleeve?

    If Huntsman runs as a third party candidate, he will take votes away from Obama. He will be an easy alternative for the disgruntled and disaffected Obama supporters that are growing by the day. That can only help the Republican nominee. After all, he is throwing red meat to the liberals who want to tax the rich, with his statements that the rich need to sacrifice.

    For all those saying that Jon has daddy’s deep pockets, isn’t his dad the one that swore that he would do all he can for charity, and has, and that he will die broke?

  • msctex

    Any politician who uses the word “sacrifice” outside of the context of a field of military battle is one to avoid. It is indicative of Leftist thought in its most pervasive form.

  • keysconservative

    Krauthammer said it best, “Huntsman is the liberal’s idea of what a Republican should be.” Exactly. That’s why the MSM is propping him up, just like they propped up McCain in ’08. But even if Huntsman got the nomination (never going to happen) the MSM will tear him to pieces and portray him as a racist, right wing radical.
    The people who slept through the election cycle last time and pulled the lever for Obama are waking up now. No way the MSM gets a ‘moderate’ nominated this time around. Fool me once….etc.

  • jaykali

    For an irrelevant ‘moderate/liberal’ republican polling at 1% who served in Obama’s cabinet, he is doing pretty well as far as not being completely ignored.

    I realize his camp thinks they need to be able to differentiate Huntsman from the field but this strategy of moving left to win the primary um is not going to work. Republicans are not in the mood to elect a moderate to run against Obama.

    And his evolution/global warming comment is insulting to 99% of the base?!? I hate being lectured by elites telling me if you don’t believe in a theory, you’re a moron. Global warming and evolution both have problems, you can go either way on either but you shouldn’t say ‘call me crazy’ as a way to dig at the very people you are trying to persuade to elect you.

    Anyways I laugh every time I see him. Next time someone quotes something Huntsman said to Perry he should answer back “Who?”.

  • runner12

    And that is saying quite a lot.

  • NeoKong

    “Why the GOP would want to do a debate with the Politico and NBC ? both of which have a well documented history of being mouthpieces for Obama (First question: What?s it like to be a Christofascist terrorist, Ms. Bachmann?) ? is beyond me.”

    I cannot not be the second person in America who understands what an ambush party that debate will be.
    Sucker punch city.
    Honest to god….why do Republican always let flaming lefties run their debates…..?

  • Darin_H

    Hey, we elected Rubio, dragged Scott over the finish line, swept every statewide race and gave veto proof majorities in both houses down here in FL in 2010 – we’re not going to vote for a “Huntsman.”

  • Darin_H

    Well, this was supposed to be to the OP, not as a reply….

  • Bill S

    it’s Huntsman. And I HATE HATE HATE the use of that term. But with him, it fits to a T. I am convinced that Huntsman could declare as a Democrat and destroy Obama in the primary. And the Dems would love him. He’s not a social conservative, he’s not a fiscal conservative, and he’s not a natsec conservative. So, he must be a Democrat.

    He should actually be called a “DIRC” – Democrat In Republican Clothes.

    And this, of course, is why the press is having wet dreams about him.

  • gawken

    Given Perry’s rapid rise in the polls, one has to assume that Mitt must revise his strategy of attempting to appear to be the presumptive nominee, and start going directly at Perry…if Huntsman also starts attacking Perry, will he be viewd as a “Mormon stalking horse?”

  • Bill S

    I go and Google the term “DIRC”, and I discover that someone else already invented it…here on Redstate, no less.

    I am always behind the curve…

  • Bill S

    It appears that I agree with Howard Dean

  • gawken

    because there were NO officially declared candidates at that time.

    Given the number of GOP debates that are upcoming, I don’t have a problem with one sponsored by NBC/MSNBC/Politico. We should engage everyone. I do hope, nay EXPECT that the candidates will go right at anyone who poses a particularly egregious/biased question..at least as vigorously as Newt did to Chris Wallace.

    What does really, REALLY annoy me is that they let NBC/MSNBC?Politoc sponsor a debate at THE REAGAN LIBRARY.

    Fer pete’s sake..that’s sacred ground…would the CANDIDATES for Israeli PM agree to a debate hosted by ASl Jazeera? Doh!!!

    A part of me is perversely anticipating the commentary from Chris Matthews, Lawrence O’Brien, and Rachel Maddow…and of course..let’s NOTY forget MSNBC’s esteemed political commentator, that bon vivant man about town..Ron Reagan, Jr..who will no doubt dazzle us with the sheer empitness and vapidity of his thoughts..

  • victrola

    He needs to be nailed down on this and run out of the GOP if he leaves this door open.

    You can never predict how 3rd Party candidates will break. Logically, you would think he would take away votes from the Democrat, like John Anderson did in 1980 with Jimmy Carter, but you never know. Ross Perot was pro-choice and wanted tax increases to fight the deficit, but he took far more votes away from the the GOP and ultimately cost us the election. There’s no question the media is using Huntsman as a “useful idiot” to bash the GOP.

    I think my biggest fear is the 2012 election will become a “culture war” election instead of a referendum on Obama. If it’s a “Red vs Blue” type battle, it’s a jump ball coming down to basically Ohio. A culture war type election would leave a big opening for a Huntsman or Bloomberg-type candidacy.

  • gregorysstewart

    I noticed that in a poll released yesterday by Mason-Dixon, Huntsman got ZERO, Nothing, Nada. I guess that his message, amplified by the MSM, just isn’t resonating.

  • Darin_H

    I’m the opposite. I’d rather find out now how they deal with the hostile media, like I said in 2007 when we had a stupid debate with stupid questions on MSNBC: MSNBC Was The Perfect Host For This Debate

    I’m glad that last night’s debate was on MSNBC. I’m glad that Chrissy Matthews was the moderator and that Olby was the ‘analyst.’ Don’t get me wrong, there were a bunch of stupid questions and the whole thing was set up by that way by the leftist “journalists” that populate the MSM. They reveled in trying to tie the Republican candidates to President Bush in a negative way. The question submitted online were banal. The moderators walking across the stage showed me that they thought they were the stars of the night, not the candidates. And then having several liberals discuss the debate once it was finished showed the networks true colors.

    Read on

    Nonetheless, having the debate on MSNBC was a good thing. Why? It lets every candidate know that these are the questions you can expect for the rest of the campaign. If you can?t handle stupid questions from the heavily partisan press then you don’t deserve the Republican nomination. They aren’t your friends, they won’t ask you easy questions (which is to be expected), but they also won’t ask you questions ‘framed’ from a conservative viewpoint. If you think they should or will, then you should close up shop now.

    Two cases in point: Romney was prepared for the communion question, I’m pretty sure that Romney is capable of handling questions like these from dealing with the liberal Boston media during his time as governor. On the flip side Tommy Thompson was completely unprepared for the cheap shot thrown at him (should businesses be able to fire homosexuals). He fumbled around for an answer and ended up with a yes – he should have said something about America being a tolerant nation and doubting that a competent employee would be fired for something not work related “I just don’t buy your premise” and moved on.

    All candidates (declared and undeclared) take note, these are the questions you will get. Yes, yes, you’ll get a few easy ones about taxes or vetoing spending, but expect the liberal media to try and get you in a ‘gotcha’ moment. If you can’t handle that, it’s time to get out now.

    And reading the comments is fun to look back on :)

  • http://impudent.edublogs.org/ kyle8

    but a lot of establishmentarian type Repubs are hoping he will catch fire, but he won’t.

  • spainishirish

    You are right, tihis would be a more likely outlet for dissatisfied Democratic votes. Once the MSM comes to this same conclusion, you will be hard-pressed to find Huntsman on the air.

  • cwilson

    county Republican Executive Committee mtg, here in FL. This is a fairly conservative county (43R/36D/21 by registration; 55McCain/44Obama in the big 2008 “wave” year).

    They got polite applause, but a noticeable chill when they mentioned Gorebull warming.

  • cwilson

    .

  • honor

    Romney is a far bigger RINO. He’s pro abortion, and pro gun control, sure he’s flipped on the issues, but that’s because he’s running in a primary. Huntsman has never flipped on an issue like either of those.

    In addition, Romney is pro health care mandates. He claims his plan is nothing like Obamacare, but we all know it is. There are plenty of other issues that Romney has flipped on.

    So I want to know why is everyone so anti Huntsman, but so pro Romney? Someone please explain that to me.

    Is it because he worked for Obama, he also worked for other presidents. He had a fantastic economic record in Utah (1st), far better than Romney did in his state (47th).

    Huntsman will pick up stream and Romney will lose steam and I really don’t see what the big deal is.

    We aren’t going to get a Jindal or a Rubio this year as much as we all want it, but I’d rather have Huntsman over Romney, unless there’s something I’m missing.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Seriously, do you read RedState or do you just type in anger?

  • honor

    Erick constantly chews out Huntsman, far more than Romney. And I never understood that. Of course I read Red State, Huntsman is the least popular GOP candidate here on Red State (from what I’ve read, correct me if I’m wrong). Why is he far more hated by real conservatives than Romney?

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Who are the ‘you guys’ who have no problem with Romney?

    Back up your claim with evidence, or retract and apologize.

  • reaganbuckley

    Huntsman isn’t smart enough to do that yet.

  • honor

    I don’t need evidence, I read red state everyday, the reads, along with (especially) Erick constantly attack Huntsman, far more than Romney. Maybe I’m reading it wrong. Correct me if I’m wrong. Tell me you (or RS in general) dislikes Romney as much (or more) than Huntsman.

    In terms of all the candidates running, aside from Gary Johnson, Romney is the most liberal candidate, he has the most liberal record. That’s safe to say right?

  • acat

    That Romney is a waffler does not make him more palatable. We already have a waffler-in-chief, we need a POTUS who is going to shut down and auction off the detritus of big government, not just change the locks and the nameplates.

    Romney’s dreadful. Huntsman is no better, and it has nothing to do with the relative mental abilities of either candidate.

    Mew

  • acat

    Google (or Bing – hi Neil) the following:

    romney erick 2006 site:redstate.com
    romney erick 2007 site:redstate.com
    romney erick 2008 site:redstate.com

    You’ll find plenty of Romney bashing… although, with the terrible crop in 2008 it was a close thing.

    Mew

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    If you actually did read RedState every day, and had read posts of Erick or other front pagers saying they’re fine with Mitt Romney, then you’d have LINKS to those posts where Erick or others said such things.

    But you don’t have any. You’re simply full of it.

  • honor

    You are putting words in my mouth (and being rude), I never said RS loves Romney, I said they criticize Huntsman far more than Romney. I could post links, you’d just call them anecdotal evidence. Huntsman is the most criticized candidate on RS.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    Two quotes from your comment:

    “I don’t get why you guys hate Huntsman but have no problem with Romney”

    “So I want to know why is everyone so anti Huntsman, but so pro Romney? Someone please explain that to me. ”

    First you said “you guys” “have no problem with Romney,” then you said “everyone” is “so pro Romney.”

    If you actually had honor you’d admit you were wrong, but you’re just full of it, so I expect you to continue to lie instead.

  • honor

    Hyperbole. Hyperbole.

    Pro Romney compared to pro Huntsman is what I meant. But I’ll admit I could have used better words.

    Obviously Red State has a history of being in favor of grassroots candidates over establishment moderate candidates. I just see more RS comments that are Anti-Huntsman than Anti-Romney and I don’t understand it. The past 6 months, Erick has certainly been attacking Huntsman more than Romney, when it should be the other way around.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    If you read RS you’d have seen our many, many posts exposing Romney last time.

    Even those of us who were OK with him for a while, eventually came around against him after Michigan.

    Romney is a known quantity. Huntsman is the new thing.

  • honor

    I guess that makes sense, but Romney is the front runner while Huntsman is behind Cain. In 2007-2008 I remember a lot more anti Romney then there is now at RS.

    I’m sorry for the misunderstanding, I never meant to say RS users love Romney. I just am really passionate about making sure that we don’t have a wind blowning GOP candidate who’s pro abortion and pro gun control and pro health care mandate. We already have a president who does that stuff. Romney is a threat to the conservative faction of the party, far more than Huntsman. We can’t forget that.

  • http://www.hakubi.us/ Neil Stevens

    But yeah. I hope you saw Dan McLaughlin’s 5 part epic against Romney last time.

  • honor

    I read part of it, I’ll read it all now if it’s still relevant. I can’t stand Romney, he’s the RINO. Huntsman may be a moderate, but at least he’s honest about it, and at least he was never basically a baby killing gun snatcher.

    Also, I don’t really understand this article. Romney also attacks other candidates, all candidates do. Romney is more of a sexual fantasy for some on the left. Is the 3rd party speculation just wild, or is there any serious speculation about it?

    So Huntsman isn’t very popular, I’ve read some recent polls with him polling higher than Gingrich, but I still think Gingrich should be in the debate.

  • pttx333

    with either Romney or Huntsman. Both are unpalatable to me. This comes to you from a female senior citizen and is solely my opinion.

    Have never cared for Romney because he was just too slick and kind of smarmy in a way. Huntsman, ditto. Their demeanor speaks snake oil salesman somehow – it just isn’t something I can put my finger on with total accuracy. But, do you know that hinky feeling you get when someone just doesn’t ‘cut the mustard,’ so to speak. Or am I the only one who gets that feeling? I will tell you, though, that in all of my years whenever I get that feeling, it has proved itself true in the final analysis. I don’t get that feeling often, but I learned long ago to listen after being burned a couple of times.

    So, there ya go – for what it is worth.

  • gekster

    There is something about Romney that doesn’t appear honest.
    Or rather, feels honest.
    It’s like he will say what you want to here, not what he believes.
    Like al Gore, a snake in sheeps skin.

  • pttx333

    Agree 100%. I do not ‘hate’ them, all I want is for them to NOT be in MY White House since, to me, they are unfit to be President according to my beliefs and my gut feeling.

  • pttx333

    I guess you put it better than did I, but that is exactly how I feel. You mention albore – my, oh my – I could have told everyone about that idiot years ago. My bells and whistles went off when I first saw/heard him – same with b.o., slick willy, et al. None of those guys appear to me disguised in sheep skin, they’re just there all revealed as total snakes.

    Boy, we’ve GOTTA get it right this time or we are goners!

  • pttx333

    they are chameleons! Maleable in any way you would like them to be which to me means, there is no core value system inside them. Like when I originally stated above – there is no there, there. Don’t know how else to put it!

  • gekster

    Chameleon:
    One who will adapt and apear to represent his current surroundings.
    Kudos.

  • pttx333

    that it is a new word with which to describe a candidate. But if it is new to RS, then that makes me proud.

  • gekster

    First I heard of it, and will use it.
    It is quite proper for some of those running, before and now.

  • pttx333

    that change colors? They change to green if they are on something green, etc. And LIZARD is certainly appropriate! HA Maybe that is why some folks are slammed as being a a lizard.

    Yep, there are lots of folks like that, not just politicians. Sure am thankful I have my built-in hinky feeling alarm system. ‘Scuse me, that is just my Texan self coming out.

  • gekster

    …

  • pttx333

    that would mean that in the instance of a politician who should ideally have a strong inner core value system and won’t betray that value system for any reason. But for those who blow with the wind means that they don’t have the core value system and if they do, then they aren’t worth a damn if they will betray themselves – they become nobody and nothing, an empty suit.

  • circlegranch

    Long before Huntsman announced, Morning Joe and his sidekick Mika fawned over the idea that if only Jon would get in the race, they’d be so thrilled they might entertain about a 1% chance of voting for him over Obama. They tried hard to find something inspiring about Huntsman’s lack luster announcement speech which was done in NY Harbor reminescent of Reagan but that’s where the comparisons ended. MSNBC pays people all day long to wonder and stew and fret about Huntsman’s poor ranking with conservatives. The woe and sorrow and gnashing of teeth is quite entertaining once in awhile. Joe is making a name for himself with tirades befitting a washed up Congressman that needed to put groceries on the table so he ended up pandering to progressives on MSNBC. When the debt ceiling debate raged, Joe longed for the reasoned center left thinking of a Jon Huntsman to ride in on a white horse and help save Obama. When Obama finally signed off on the smelly bill, Joe raged that he should have invoked the 14th Amendment, bypassed Congress all together and in doing so, would have defeated the Tea Party once and for all! Prior to the Iowa caucuses, Joe threatend the good folks in the corn belt with that engaging RINO tone of his by saying if they voted for Michelle Bachmann they were essentially stupid idiots. When the votes were counted that Saturday, the result must have sent Joe and Mika reeling because they took unannounced 2 week vacations. Either they have been off shooting more glamour shots for an upcoming coffee table book with proceeds going toward the Huntsman campaign, or they’ve been wining and dining with the Obama’s in the Vineyard getting a much needed reprieve from duties as co-chairs of the Tea Party Hatred Society. In their spirit, good ol’ common man, in touch w/ the average guy, MJ barfly, Mike Barnacle wistfully asked yet again on Friday’s show….what’s happened to the Huntsman campaign? Why can’t these ignorant conservatives just shut up and support the guy we progressives want them to run? Why do they have to make this so hard? Look how great things turned out for us when we picked John McCain for them? How they seriously sit there and try to influence who runs as the GOP candidate? The insanity of these people!! If Huntsman doesn’t get the nomination, if the stupid idiots don’t get behind him, then Obama isn’t an automatic shoo-in! Why can’t they see this!!!!!!!!

    Joe and Mika supposedly return tomorrow after 2 weeks of trying to find the right rhetoric to jumpstart Huntsman’s pathetic candidancy. They may spend the day instead being filmed in the foamy sea on a sinking ship named “Jon Boy” screaming at someone named Irene.

  • renny

    at whatever atheist altars they pray at are pleading for Perry to convert to Mormonism so they can start EVERY report with “Religious extremist member of the Church of the Latter Day Saints also called Mormons Republican candidate Huntsman/Romney/Perry” yadda so they can create a macro they could save for all political commentary through Nov. 2012.

    As to Huntsman as a candidate, he worked for Obama. For me, that is enough said. The mass media want Romney because they think he is a younger brother to McCain. They despise and fear all the rest.

    And as to these early debates, their purpose seems anomalous, and they merely supply more ammunition for the enemy which has the great advantage of not having to defend against a primary opponent.

  • gunslingr45

    at long last I can put a little bit of stock in “polls.”

  • mspector

    Not in the GOP primaries, and certainly not as a third-party candidate. At the very least a third-party candidate has to have some fervid base, such as Ross Perot or even Ron Paul. Huntsman has none of that. His “campaign” was over before it began.

  • williamjameson

    I’ve watched Scabbo talk about this candidate laughing at the Motorcycle ad that introduced Huntsman. Though I agree with most of your opinion, Scabbo reads from the teleprompter at times so as to earn that million plus salary. Gotta say what the paycheck tells him to say. I bet it sucks but money talks.

    Since Comcast took over I’ve seen Joe slam Obama and discuss his failures as well as why the democrats don’t get it. I think MSDNC held Joe back when GE ran the company. I’m not ready to say he’s a centrist but Joe was a different person with the Scarboro Country show.