I am a liberal Democrat and always have been. I want President Obama to win re-election. So why on earth am I pulling for Jon Huntsman to win today in New Hampshire? He has the best chance of beating the president. And yet, here I am, hoping he pulls it out. Intellectually, it makes so sense.
Even if Huntsman didn’t have the best chance of beating the president, I shouldn’t like him. He is really a conservative guy — ‘pro-life,’ supports the horrible Paul Ryan plan to dismantle Medicare, is all about the Second Amendment, you know, my type of person. So what the hell am I thinking?
Running for president is serious business. It’s a serious job. I write political satire so the whole circus that has been the GOP presidential nomination process has been like a gift from God. Come on, I was all about the Cain Train. But as a citizen, the idea of a President Cain, Santorum, Gingrich or Bachmann scares the crap out of me. Whenever I want to bring up Ronald Reagan as a positive an angel loses its wings but one thing he had in his arsenal when negotiating with the Soviets was intelligence. (Oh, and hell just froze over a little bit.) Can you imagine a Herman Cain in that kind of situation? No? That’s because we all probably wouldn’t be here now to think about it.
When did we go from picking the best candidate to picking the least insane?
That is why I like Jon Huntsman. I like that he is sane and reasonable. I like that Pew called Utah the best run state in the country when he was governor. And to me, it is a plus that he served in the Obama administration. What happened to politics ending at the coasts? When I travel overseas, I am am American first and a Democrat second. That is what I like about Jon Huntsman.
For a moment there, I thought you had gone over to the Dark Side. 😉 But yes, Huntsman seems to be the best of a bad bunch.
I agree, I admired Jon Huntsman, mainly because he was perhaps the sanest, most principled individual out of the GOP bunch. Yes, he had no chance with the polarized attitude of the GOP, but the fact that he personally had little bias in who he would serve under (both Bush and Obama, dealing with foreign affairs in China and SIngapore). Unlike Gingrich, he could still work under Obama, whom he admitted to disagree with, but cared more about representing our country overseas then whether or not the guy appointing him had a D or an R in front of his name. It’s also true that Huntsman got the right general idea about climate change, and governed with cuts to both the Utah State budget and the state taxes, exactly what conservatives profess to want, right? But it never ceases to amaze me how much the Republicans always choose anything but their best, but then again, that’s also why I’m an independent who usually votes Democrat. Preaching hard doesn’t win, what someone is willing to do, and shows what they are willing to do, does.
It is ironic that the GOP considers Huntsman to be a moderate, which he is isn’t and then thinks Newt & Romney are conservative, which they aren’t.
Thanks for reading and taking the time to comment, that made my day!