Huntsmans candidacy is DOA. He only appeals to LJ types.
Gee Lib, you've got some rather odd ideas about my politics....
I guess you didn't read my fairly long post about Huntsman, (In my "Last Monday's New Hampshire Debate" thread) where I said: (among other things) :
I really didn't know a whole lot about him, except for the fact that he seemed to be the darling of Liberal media pundits, which made me immediately suspicious; Liberal media pundits not generally being known for having the best interests of the GOP at heart....he's definitely the favorite Republican candidate on MSNBC....(It gave me the impression that maybe he was trying to be a John Anderson type candidate; the last Republican Presidential contender that Liberal media pundits were fond of)
(I'm a little puzzled as to how you could have missed that, given the fact that you posted a follow up, but be that as it may)
I also pointed out some other problems he has in terms of getting the nomination, and the only positive things I said about him were:
I did a little research on him and his positions over the weekend and he's really not as bad as I originally thought;
(Not exactly a ringing endorsement; I discovered that he has pretty conservative positions on a range of issues which given his popularity with liberal pundits surprised me...Just out of curiosity, have
you done any research on his positions, or are you relying exclusively on second hand POV synopsises that you've gotten from media sources?)
And I concluded by saying this:
Personally, I'm going to take a wait and see attitude on him and see how he performs, and what sort of reception he gets.
Yessir, I'm really shakin' my pom poms for Jon Hunstman....
All I've done is to perform a little research and based on that decide that I'm willing to give the guy a hearing. Nothing more.
If somebody put a gun to my head, and told me I had to make a choice among the announced GOP candidates
RIGHT NOW, my choice wouldn't be Hunstman; it would be Romney, and I ain't the President of his fan club either.
My criteria for who I want to see as the Republican nominee for President is exactly the same as the one expressed by Lindsey Graham; I plan to support the candidate who I am most comfortable with ideologically,
that can win the election....
That "can win the election" part is kind of important Lib, since if the candidate
can't win the election, how wonderful you may think they are really won't matter...A Presidential election isn't like
The Bozo the Clown Show, (Okay Strop, don't go for the easy joke
)...there is no provision for "almost winners" it's an all or nothing proposition, and the guy or gal who loses doesn't get a consolation prize....and the policies and agenda they want to pursue doesn't amount to squat in terms of what the country's policies and agenda will actually be.
Who's your pick Lib? Michelle Bachmann? Rick Santorum? You figure either of those two can attract enough independent votes in a general election to defeat Obama and his billion dollar bankroll?
Maybe you're one of those folks that believe that the ideological purity of the candidate is more important than their electability...If so I would suggest to you that you are playing straight into the hands of the Sues of the world, who would like
nothing better than to see the GOP nomination go to someone selected on that basis. If that's your view, than you might as well get the biggest "RE-ELECT OBAMA" button you can find and pin it on your chest, because that's the practical real world effect that attitude will have.
I remember back during the '08 race that there were a couple of conservative posters (I know Ray was one of them; you may have been the other) who said they weren't going to vote for McCain because they saw "no difference" between him and Obama...
No difference....
Do you figure a President McCain would have appointed a Sonia Sotomayor or an Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court? Or that a President McCain would have backed a stimulus package with as little bang for the buck as Obama's Mother Of All Pork?
Frankly, even though he's considerably to my right on social issues, I wouldn't have a big problem supporting Rick Perry should he get in the race. Perry's an effective campaigner, and in a year where unemployment is likely to be stuck around 9% the record for job creation in Texas while he has been Governor is the sort of thing that
could attract enough independents to win the race. (In fact if he got into the race, my inclination would be to lean towards him over Romney because of the job creation record and the fact that he'd be much more effective on the campaign trail)
Would you say the same thing about a GOP candidate who was to your
left on social issues, but who you thought had the record and ability to win the election?