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JREF Conservatives: Jon Hunstman?

Undesired Walrus

Penultimate Amazing
Joined
Apr 10, 2007
Messages
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So I'm fairly certain that the conservatives on this forum are not particularly interested in social conservatism and have no time for religion in politics. So my question is: Jon Hunstman, is he your preferred candidate for 2012? If not, why not?

Even though I disagree with much of what Huntsman believes, I can see that he would make a better President than any of the other Republican candidates. It's nice to see a candidate who makes a lot of his experience rather than go for this tired 'outside the beltway' popularism.
 
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So I'm fairly certain that the conservatives on this forum are not particularly interested in social conservatism and have no time for religion in politics. So my question is: Jon Hunstman, is he your preferred candidate for 2012? If not, why not?

Even though I disagree with much of what Huntsman believes, I can see that he would make a better President than any of the other Republican candidates. It's nice to see a candidate who makes a lot of his experience rather than go for this tired 'outside the beltway' popularism.

He appears to be a sane man. Ergo, he has no traction with the Tea Baggers.
 
I'm widely misconstrued to be a 'conservatard' because i'm not a little weenie afraid Western civilization will devolve into tyranny if a terrorist gets water poured up his nose.

However, I plan to vote for Obama unless Gingrich clearly defeats Obama in multiple debates, in which case I will throw Obama from the train and embrace The Grinch.

Huntsman is so far back I can't even hear his hoofbeats, so it is irrelevant how 'sane' he may be. Besides, if Huntsman can't make an impression against a bunch of dumb Republitard candidates, how would he ever stand up to Obama?
 
He has hot daughters who make funny campaign ads that make fun of Herman Cain, so that is a plus, link.
 
No GOP candidate in my lifetime has come out of nowhere (and I would rate being the governor of Utah as nowhere) to win the nomination. It is arguable that the least well-known GOP candidate since at least the 1940s was Barry Goldwater. Generally it is assumed that the first presidential run for a Republican is to get his name known, and that the second one is for real. Looking at recent Republican candidates, the only one who got the nomination in his first attempt since Goldwater was George W. Bush (ignoring Ford, who was a sitting president), clearly a special case.

Huntsman is still relatively unknown; note that the OP title and thread both misspell his name.
 
I'm widely misconstrued to be a 'conservatard' because i'm not a little weenie afraid Western civilization will devolve into tyranny if a terrorist gets water poured up his nose.

However, I plan to vote for Obama unless Gingrich clearly defeats Obama in multiple debates, in which case I will throw Obama from the train and embrace The Grinch.

Huntsman is so far back I can't even hear his hoofbeats, so it is irrelevant how 'sane' he may be. Besides, if Huntsman can't make an impression against a bunch of dumb Republitard candidates, how would he ever stand up to Obama?

So you want a President who is skilled at winning debates? What about policies or their political track record?
 
So you want a President who is skilled at winning debates? What about policies or their political track record?

I would hope the debates would be about policy. And if the Grinch were to win a couple of debates, then no doubt his 'political track record' will become 'the real issue'. So I'm sure I'll be well informed about all of the Grinch's political misadventures well before election day.

I'm not a big fan of government shutdowns, but they were short shutdowns, and the end result was a balanced budget and a surplus.

So who else was around and in a position of power the last time there was a balanced budget and a surplus? I know he's ugly and not a particularly likeable fellow, but he did twist old Clinton's arm pretty good.
 
I am not a conservative, but if Obama had to lose and Huntsman beat him, the country would be in competent hands. He's a bright guy who'd fill his posts with competent folks like Obama did. No Brownie at FEMA. I can't say the same for Mitt, and Gingrich? Sheesh. Who knows what horrors we'd see with that guy?
 
I would hope the debates would be about policy. And if the Grinch were to win a couple of debates, then no doubt his 'political track record' will become 'the real issue'. So I'm sure I'll be well informed about all of the Grinch's political misadventures well before election day.

I'm not a big fan of government shutdowns, but they were short shutdowns, and the end result was a balanced budget and a surplus.

So who else was around and in a position of power the last time there was a balanced budget and a surplus? I know he's ugly and not a particularly likeable fellow, but he did twist old Clinton's arm pretty good.

And Clinton twisted pretty damn good right back. A lot of the good and bad to come out of the 90's was a result of compromise between the parties. Now of course I see many of the good things as being the things Clinton got, and you might be inclined to see the good things as being the ones Grinch and the Republicans got, but in this atmosphere of 'no compromise Tea-partiers', that's simply not going to happen. I don't think Newt, Obama, or Huntsman would be able to 'twist arms' of that faction.

That said, I see Huntsman as the best of the current Republican field. A few of my conservative friends agree. (A few still like Bachmann because frankly, they don't pay much attention.)
 
I've said this on other threads, but I think Huntsman only appears reasonable by contrast to the other GOP candidates. In any other age, his economic plan (especially his proposal of a major tax overhaul) would be seen as radically extreme.
 
No GOP candidate in my lifetime has come out of nowhere (and I would rate being the governor of Utah as nowhere) to win the nomination. It is arguable that the least well-known GOP candidate since at least the 1940s was Barry Goldwater. Generally it is assumed that the first presidential run for a Republican is to get his name known, and that the second one is for real. Looking at recent Republican candidates, the only one who got the nomination in his first attempt since Goldwater was George W. Bush (ignoring Ford, who was a sitting president), clearly a special case.

Huntsman is still relatively unknown; note that the OP title and thread both misspell his name.

So are you supporting him?
 
I've said this on other threads, but I think Huntsman only appears reasonable by contrast to the other GOP candidates. In any other age, his economic plan (especially his proposal of a major tax overhaul) would be seen as radically extreme.

Nice competent font too (Time New Roman?). Bachmann's economic report is probably written in comic sans.
 

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