I see Jon Huntsman as a serious competitor

Huntsman has me “back on my heels” right now. I don’t know how to respond to him because he’s not ranting or raving.

I don’t know about you, but after reading the quote below, I consider his approach very similar to someone else…can you guess who?

“We have the power, we have the means, we have the character to astonish the world again by making from adversity a new and better country; this inexhaustible land of promise and opportunity,” he declared. “We’re choosing whether we are to be yesterday’s story or tomorrow’s.”

If I didn’t know Huntsman said that, I‘d say it’s very Obama-like rhetoric. Kinda got that Democratic ring to it.

His slogan might be: platitudes with a purpose. On the other hand, upbeat rhetoric comes as a relief in a party characterized by ideological rigidity and a reflexive less-government-lower-taxes response to every problem.

And it’s a sign of how rancid our politics have become that the biggest “news” in the speech came in these sentences: “And I respect the president of the United States. He and I have a difference of opinion on how to help a country we both love. But the question each of us wants the voters to answer is who will be the better president; not who’s the better American.”

Imagine: It’s borderline-brave for a Republican candidate to declare the president a good American who loves his country.

There is also this: In the early going, the conservative vote will be split between the right (Romney and Tim Pawlenty) and the far right (Michele Bachmann and the rest of the field). There might be room for a candidate who is a smidgen closer to the center.

The bottom line: I’m taking Huntsman seriously. His competition ought to do the same…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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