Earlier this year, I posted here about why I supported Mitch Daniels as the 2012 Republican nominee. Unfortunately, Daniels decided not to run this year.
So I set out in search of a new candidate. Mitt Romney has an alarming tendency to change his views to gather popularity, while Rick Perry doesn't seem to believe in evolution and has interfered with the investigation about whether Texas may have executed an innocent man. Rick Santorum actually used the phrase "man on dog" in an interview, while Ron Paul, who I once supported quite zealously, said he would not have authorized the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.
And then I found Jon Huntsman, who is fiscally conservative but doesn't have social views that would repel a growing percentage of the American electorate.
(Check out the book The Emerging Democratic Majority. As the U.S. grows less white, less Protestant, and less Christian generally, Religious Right-type views are more and more going to be an albatross around any candidate's neck.)
Here's a column I wrote about Huntsman for my newspaper.
Don't overlook lesser-known GOP candidate in 2012
Let me emphasize this is NOT an endorsement, since my newspaper does not endorse individual candidates. However, it is a list of reasons why Huntsman would make a good candidate. And for good measure, I don't take shots at any of the other candidates--instead, I merely explain Huntsman's strengths.
Now to find a Huntsman group in Georgia. In 2008, there were Ron Paul groups and I was even a member of one. However, searching Meetup.com found nothing Huntsman-related in Atlanta and Googling "Georgians for Huntsman" only found me an anemic Twitter feed.
The Georgia Republican primary is February 7, 2012. There really isn't all that much time left.
P.S.
If you all are ever in Little Five Points in Atlanta, be sure to check out Fox Brothers Bar-B-Q. It's better than Shane's or any other BBQ place I've even been to. I especially like the brisket.
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I would consider voting for Huntsman over Obama, but he's a serious longshot for nominee. Perry, who's been described as "Bush without the brains" seems likely to self-destruct, and Romney is probably acceptable to party moderates and polls acceptably vs Obama. Still, he's awful dull.
ReplyDeleteAt this point Huntsman needs some way to break out and get noticed. If there's enough bloodshed among the other candidates, he might get a serious look. Remember 2004? Kerry was dead in the water until Dean imploded and the Democrats scrambled to grab someone with good hair to throw into the nomination.
Romney's got the flip-flopper thing going, which might be problematic.
ReplyDeleteHuntsman it seems is polling third in New Hampshire. He might have a shot there.
The Florida situation is unfortunate--I get the impression it's less socially conservative than other states but it is still extremely fiscally conservative (no state income tax), so it should be good Huntsman territory. The problem is, he doesn't have the funds to compete there.
(Unless of course he wanted to self-finance. He probably could afford to do that. Romney did in 2008, to a large degree.)
Re: your P.S.--Roy says that is the absolute best BBQ ever. I've only been a couple of times but if we lived closer, he would only ever go there.
ReplyDeleteSame here. I don't especially like BBQ, but I love Fox Brothers.
ReplyDeleteNot sure if I'll be able to start an Atlantans for Huntsman group due to work concerns, but if I do, I think I'll have our first meeting at Fox Brothers.
I like Huntsman, but as a whole, I washoping a better canidate than the ones we have would have entered the race by now.
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