Conservatives: What's not to like about Jon Huntsman?
 

This guy has a good track record as governor, has actual foreign policy experience, is incredibly likeable and pragmatic with bipartisan credentials, and is totally composed on the stage.

What's not to like? I am obviously not the GOP's demographic here, but I think he is far and away the strongest candidate on that stage.

Yet he's polling in the single digits.

(This is a thread primarily for conservatives and those who usually vote GOP. I think my fellow liberals will have a harder time pegging why conservatives refuse to flock to him.)

I'm rewatching the debate because I DVR'd it (because I'm a glutton for punishment), and Huntsman and Paul are the only people who are complete command of what they're talking about.

Gingrich comes close, but then he says things like "we can make the price of oil plummet globally if we just drill everywhere".

I really, really like what Huntsman proposes for conservativism. A saner, less dogmatic conservativism that doesn't give a shit about talk ****ing radio. It's fantastic and it provides the necessary counterweight to liberalism.

At least that's where I come from. But again, I'm not the target demographic.

If you are an uber liberal and like a guy on the other side it should make sense that people who believe opposite of you would see things differently, yes?

Answer: he cant win the primary

Thus the thread.

What don't you like about Jon Huntsman, Bewbies?

Circular argument.

If the reason conservatives don't like him is because he can't win, but they otherwise really do like him, than why don't they just change that?

Why marry yourself to Romney when you can have the more conservative, more consistent, more likeable version?

Truly uninspiring people make great leaders.

Conservatives don't like Romney either.

Anything on his record you don't like? Anything substantial?

Not that this isn't substantial, but surely it can't be the only reason.

If conservatives want to beat Obama, they'll do the smart thing and nominate Huntsman.

This guy would attract buttloads of independent votes. And he's also get the Republicans, too. What are they going to do? Vote Obama?

He's also the most well-spoken guy on the stage who uses the fewest cliches and buzzwords.

He's got the longest and most impressive resume I've seen out of a Republican candidate in YEARS.

Nearly all of his proposals are reasonable, he actually knows how to SELL them to voters.

Seriously, I think when it comes to Republican voters, the candidate either has to reach a certain level of dumbassery in order to be deemed "electable" by the party

Conservatives don't like Huntsman for many of the same reasons they don't like Romney. He's a Mormon, and his views aren't far enough to the right. He's not a creationist, and he has stated that he trusts scientists on the issue of global warming.

He would destroy Obama in the general election. Sadly, he won't get a chance to do that, because the same people who think Obama=Romney will also say Obama=Huntsman.




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Which is weird, because Huntsman would probably be the least hawkish president this country has seen since... decades ago

Huntsman would be a great choice, which is precisely why the Republicans won't choose him.

The Mormon thing is a non-issue to me. Maybe I'm being overly cynical, but I imagine a lot of politicians use religion the same way they use other organizations to gain favor. Is Obama's and Clinton's own personal Christian belief any more relevant than Huntsman and Romney's beliefs? I don't think so.

I won't vote for Romney under any circumstance, but Huntsman is another case. He does seem more conservative and consistent than Romney. I might vote Huntsman if he were the Nomination, but I'm still leaning toward Ron Paul after this last debate. However, Huntsman really shone in tonight's debate. These concerns that Royal mentioned are concerning for me, but are far less than my concerns about Perry & Romney, and perhaps no more worrisome than my concerns about Cain, Paul, and Gingrich. (Bachman and Santorum are off my radar). It's certainly time for Huntsman to have his 15 minutes to surge to the top. It will make for a lot of jokes, but I see no reason why Gingrich and Cain are more viable than Huntsman- who probably had more lasting appeal than the other flavor of the week candidates. I'm certainly more favorable to Huntsman than I am to Romney- even if he does initially come off as an Diet Pepsi version of Romney. He's doing well now to set himself apart from Mitt. I wouldn't be surprised to see him start to surge in the polls.