Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm a resident of Utah so perhaps I can offer a little insight on Huntsman from my perspective. He was mainly a popular governor because the economy was good and the government never asked too much of its citizens during his tenure. He was by no means a miracle worker. Utah has had a long line of good governors, and none of them had trouble balancing the budget either. Much like Governor Perry, he just can't take credit for his state's success. He wasn't a turn-around governor unlike Romney.
Huntsman was originally elected because of his name. There's really no question about it. His dad, Jon Sr., is a self-made billionaire and gives a great deal to charity and the local cancer research institute. Jon Jr. inherited his dad's petro-chemical company (think oil refineries). He has business experience, in fact part of the reason he gained his ambassador positions was because all of the Huntsman refineries operate in Asia. He wasn't exactly a revolutionary businessman though. Again, he was just one head in a series of heads of a well-managed organization.
He's well educated and experienced in foreign relations. I'll give you that. I think he'd make an excellent Secretary of State. But I think he's weak on social issues because as governor, he seemed to stick his finger to the wind with most things. He claims to have reformed healthcare in Utah, but members of his administration claim he had no vision or idea of what he wanted, and could hardly take credit for what the state ended up with. And it's being quite generous to call it a "reform," really. Utah is a state with highly competitive healthcare companies offering above average care at below average costs. I mean it's basically the poster child for how healthcare should work. Obama himself lauded Utah's healthcare in his State of the Union address in '10. But Huntsman isn't to thank for this; they were highly competitive long before he was governor.
On many issues, Huntsman voiced support for things that just seemed to have no effect. He didn't get much flack for supporting cap & trade because nothing really ever came of it. He voiced support for civil unions, a move that Utah's gay and liberal community practically deified him for, but his support was practically a joke. Utah's legislature will never pass such legislation. One of the key points of his original platform was to replace a state prison, but no one heard about it after he became governor. He was originally unsure about education voucher legislation, but ended up supporting it, and it subsequently passed in the Utah legislature. Then, the legislation flopped when Utah's incredibly conservative base called it to a referendum and rejected it. He's said many things to appear moderate or progressive, but in action, he really wasn't either of those things.
I hate to bring up his religion, but I'm not sure he's really a Mormon. He said his religion is hard to define, and people who know him have said he's not an active Latter-day Saint by any means, much unlike Romney and all of Utah's major politicians. He's said his adopted daughters are being raised in their traditional cultures (Buddhist and Hindu). Utah's electorate is very religious, and quite frankly, his approval ratings wouldn't have been as high had he been as open about his faith as governor. It sure seems like he just called himself a Mormon to get votes, when in reality his only connection to the faith might just be that he was raised that way.
He said Obama was a remarkable leader (and underlined remarkable). That was enough for me to doubt his judgment or think he sucked up for a job.
Wow. All of Mitt's flip-flops in one video. Nice. Particularly damning is the flip-flopping Mormon's support of Obama's stimulus package. I can just see Obama's attacks ads now playing Mitt's own words against him every time the flip-flopping Mormon attacks Obama's stimulus.
You call all of the other candidates by name, with no reference to their religion. That says a whole lot about you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TheFix
Jon Hunstman. If he doesn't the GOP nomination, I'll be voting for Obama again.
And Huntsman is also a Mormon, which makes your reference to "the flip-flopping Mormon" even crazier. Why not just "flip-flopper" if that's how you see him. When Huntsman does something that you don't like, I guess then his religion will become a part of how you define him and you'll stop referring to him by name, too.
Huntsman was originally elected because of his name. There's really no question about it.
I disagree with you on this point, Lamborgotti. As you may recall, the first time he ran, it was against one of the Mattheson sons (can't recall the first name), whose father was probably the most popular and well-liked governor the state of Utah ever had. Both men carried on a civil campaign and the vote was reasonably close. It could have gone either way, and it wouldn't have been because of their fathers.
Interesting to hear the laugh/groan at Romney's comment "If you do not want America to be strongest nation on Earth, I am not your President. You have that President today. ". They are groaning that at the Military School? Hmmm.
Last edited by florida.bob; 10-07-2011 at 10:34 AM..
Thanks for that insight into the real Huntsman. He doesn't sound like a very sincere person to me. I have never really cared for him.
"The real Huntsman"? The real Huntsman is sincere and has more integrity than the rest of the candidates all put together.
Quote:
It is sort of funny that in Utah pretending to be a Mormon helps you, but in a national election you might wish you hadn't pretended quite so well...lol.
That's really a lame and prejudicial observation. Huntsman is a Mormon. He has never "pretended" to be anything other than a Mormon. He simply is not as devout as Romney. Did you ever consider the fact that maybe his religion didn't enter into the election at all? In his first term, he ran against another less-devout Mormon. His sweeping win (by something like 78% of the vote) the second time around was attributable to the way he governed the state. Democrats and Republicans all thought he was a terriffic governor.
While Huntsman did have the advantage of governing a state that has always been fiscally well-managed, he did bring about some fiscal changes that further improved the state's economy.
Ron Paul plays well to a small, hard core audience of fans, and I'm not knocking the man, but most people don't want a hard core ideologue. They want a politician with a certain flexibility, which will naturally lead to charges of flip-flopping by people looking to score points.
I think your right. They don't want a leader that is pissed off with the direction the nation is going.
They want someone to give them a lollipop and tell them everything is going to be alright.
Myself - I want a President that is really pissed off about
our present situation. I want him to have knowledge of
economics, and the rule of law. I want to be hard core
about the candidate I support - especially in a time when
our country IS going in the wrong direction.
I'm a Paul supporter. I do believe there will be more of
us as the election goes on
Wow. All of Mitt's flip-flops in one video. Nice. Particularly damning is the flip-flopping Mormon's support of Obama's stimulus package. I can just see Obama's attacks ads now playing Mitt's own words against him every time the flip-flopping Mormon attacks Obama's stimulus.
That's just it. Every time he goes after Obama on something, they've got Romney's support for the same thing right there on tape. Lots of people openly said in 2000 that they voted for Bush because he was the guy they'd most like to have a beer with--personality and being genuine count big time with people who don't have party loyalty, and that's becoming a bigger and bigger chunk of the population.
He said Obama was a remarkable leader (and underlined remarkable). That was enough for me to doubt his judgment or think he sucked up for a job.
Just the simple fact that it is NATURAL that ''Birds of the same feather flock together.'' - I too, will not give ANY consideration to Huntsman, because I know he is 'dubious'...and can't be trusted. (having been part of the BO team.)
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
