RedState: Huntsman "Plotted" Against President of U.S. (by Deciding to Run for President Himself) While Serving as Ambassador to China

Of all the reasons I've seen for not supporting Jon Huntsman for the GOP nomination for President (and I've read some compelling ones as well as some ludicrous ones), Erick Erickson of Red State provides the stupidest reason I've come across so far.

By this logic, Thomas Jefferson would be unfit to receive Erickson's vote for President. I mean, he decided to run for President against John Adams while serving as Adams' Vice-President (not to mention all his machinations while serving as Washington's Secretary of State). Although the position of VP has been unfavorably compared by one occupant of that office to "a bucket of warm spit/piss", it is (since one is next in line to the Presidency), arguably, a more important position than Ambassador to China.

I don't know, maybe Erickson does feel that way about the 3rd President, as well. Mr. Jefferson certainly has his detractors.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Huntsman PAC Launched - Does This Mean Pro-Life Former Utah Gov is Running?

Is Jon Huntsman the 2012 GOP Dark Horse?

Why is Jon Huntsman Considered a "Moderate"?

Huntsman PAC Launched - Does This Mean Pro-Life Former Utah Gov is Running?

LifeNews reports:

Former two-term Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who recently stepped down from his position as ambassador to China to possibly launch a bid for the Republican nomination for president, has started a federal political action committee.

The move is seen as a precursor for a possible Republican bid for president in 2012 against pro-abortion President Barack Obama.

Huntsman, who is pro-life and supported and signed into law various pro-life bills, would be able to travel and raise money in the weeks ahead as he decides whether to take the next step in the process of becoming a candidate. Huntsman filed paperwork with the Federal Election Committee to begin “H PAC,” which would function eventually as the full-fledged campaign committee should he decided to move ahead further.

Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller told Politico the former governor will not use the “testing the waters” or exploratory committee that most other potential candidates have used to move step-by-step towards an official primary election campaign.

“This is a paperwork step,” Miller said. “He’s doing the organizational things required by campaign finance law. When he wants to make an announcement he will make an announcement.”

Miller indicated a decision on becoming an official candidate for the GOP nomination would come likely in early summer — in time for the all-important Ames, Iowa straw poll vote. Politico indicates Huntsman, freed form the legal constraints of serving as ambassador, has begun meeting with potential aides, donors and campaign workers as he prepares for the future...

[Read more]

My Comments:
This seems like good news. And now the bad news: Jimmy Carter has just given Hunstman the kiss of death.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Is Jon Huntsman the 2012 GOP Dark Horse?

Why is Jon Huntsman Considered a "Moderate"?

Is Jon Huntsman the 2012 GOP Dark Horse?

Tip of the hat to Rob Wasinger, the former Brownback chief of staff and 2008 presidential campaign manager who has endorsed Ambassador Jon Huntsman for the 2012 GOP nomination, for alerting me to this article by Deal Hudson on Ambassador Hunstman's prospects for winning:

... The question most asked about Huntsman is how Obama's ambassador to China, ostensibly a "moderate" Republican, could gain the nomination of a party presently being fueled by the energy of Tea Party and social conservative activists.

Huntsman's record suggests the possibility is not so far-fetched as some might think. Social conservatives may not realize that, as governor, he signed three pro-life bills to help limit abortions in the state of Utah. Huntsman also signed the most important school choice voucher program in the nation, a universal program not limited to low-income students in a particular district or poorly performing schools. Huntsman also signed legislation protecting the Second Amendment rights of Americans to own firearms.

As a fiscal conservative, Huntsman's credentials are unquestioned. While governor, Utah won an award from the Pew Center's Government Performance Project as the "Best Managed State in the Union," and in 2007 Huntsman signed the largest tax cut in Utah's history, earning his state the Cato Institute's number-one ranking in tax policy. Last year, Forbes magazine described Utah as the nation's leading state in job growth and the "best state" for business and careers. On top of all this, Utah's economy has recorded five consecutive years of 3.5 percent annual growth.

On Huntsman's effort to reform health care in Utah, he does not share the vulnerability of the other Mormon candidate seeking the GOP nomination, Mitt Romney. While Romney's health care program in Massachusetts is seen by many as a prototype for Obamacare, Huntsman's health care measures in Utah were designed to give individuals and families choices about their coverage and how to pay for it. For example, one piece of legislation gave citizens of Utah the ability to take defined contributions from their employers and buy their own coverage. Utah created a website called NetCare, allowing citizens to shop and compare health insurance programs.

The better-known GOP frontrunners for the nomination each has obstacles to overcome: Pawlenty will have to explain to Catholic voters why he left the Church of his birth; Romney's Achilles heel is health care; Gingrich's personal history will continue to dog him, and so on.

But Huntsman has a chance to define himself on the basis of a solid record in the midst of a field of candidates with multiple handicaps. There is good reason why David Plouffe, the former campaign manager for President Obama, said the prospect of a Huntsman candidacy makes him "a wee bit queasy."

[Read the whole thing]

As I told Rob in an email, I am not quite sold on Ambassador Huntsman yet. I have concerns about his views on "Cap and Tax" and on same-sex unions. In addition, it's fairly easy to govern as a conservative in a state like Utah, and I wonder how much of Governor Huntsman's conservatism was a product of where he was governing as opposed to who he is.

But, that said, he is one of the more intriguing possibilities in the GOP field, and I could very well be won over. Such is not the case, for example, for Mitt Romney. Absolutely nothing Romney does or says could possibly change my mind about his being, at heart, a liberal and a phony. I can't understand why conservatives who should know better, such as Kathryn Lopez and the rest of the gang at National Review (except for Ramesh), are so enamoured with Romney (who has NEVER governed as a conservative and who, prior to 2008, had always run for office as a liberal) a pass, while labeling someone like Huntsman (who has actually governed as a conservative) a "moderate". The comparison of the two is an interesting juxtaposition, not the least reason being the religion angle. At any rate, I call into question the conventional wisdom that Huntsman is a "moderate".

And I definitely hope he decides to run.


Previous Pro Ecclesia posts on this subject:
Why is Jon Huntsman Considered a "Moderate"?

Why is Jon Huntsman Considered a "Moderate"?

Jon Huntsman, former Governor of Utah, and current U.S. Ambassador to China, is leaving his current post in the Obama Administration at the end of next month to consider a run for the Republican presidential nomination. His solidly pro-life record has attracted the interest of Sam Brownback's former chief of staff and 2008 presidential campaign manager:

... Rob Wasinger, who headed the campaign of the former U.S. senator from Kansas who is now the state’s governor, told LifeNews.com he joins other Hunstman supporters in encouraging the man who has served as President Barack Obama’s ambassador to China to seek the Republican nomination. Wasinger says Huntsman’s pro-life position and record attract him to the oft-mentioned potential candidate.

“There are some candidates out there who claim to be pro-life, but as Governor, Jon Huntsman did the hard work of advocating for the cause of life when others would run and hide,” Wasinger said. ” I have found that in my years of public service, it is the people that actually have a record on an issue that are the most reliable. Anyone can rollout talking points; but only a true leader can actually put together a record of service.”

Huntsman signed a trio of pro-life bills in February 2009 that the Utah legislature approved — including legislation to make second-trimester abortions illegal, a measure to allow women to know about the pain their unborn children will feel during an abortion, and a bill that would create a legal defense fund to pay for litigation related to lawsuit abortions advocates file against state legislation. Huntsman has also lived out his pro-life views in that he has seven children, two of whom were from international adoptions. ...

Huntsman is also supportive of 2nd amendment rights, and as Governor of Utah supported school vouchers, market-based approaches to health care reform, and across-the-board tax cuts. So, my question is why do so many on the right, in the middle, on the left, and in the media consider Huntsman to be a "moderate"? Writing at The Corner, Ramesh Ponnuru wondered the same thing a few days ago:

I’ve now read a few articles and blog posts either lauding the Utah governor as a moderate or denouncing him as same. Huntsman has signed pro-life bills, voucher bills, and tax cuts. Yes, he is open to some kind of civil union for gay couples and wants Republicans to make more of an effort on environmental issues. But if that’s all it takes for a Republican politician to get an image both inside and outside the party as a “moderate” these days, that’s a pretty good thing, isn’t it?