Huntsman will be the death of Romney's campaign. All of the moderate voters that are idealistic will vote Huntsman, taking away much need votes in Blue State primaries.

/Waiting on my beer, What_now.

At least he still gets invited to the debates.

SEKRET MORMON!!!!

serpent_sky: I've been theorizing that he's been hanging back to let the circus die down and let each of the complete whackjobs have their 15 minutes -- and then he will get a bit more aggressive.

He's hanging back there with Santorum; I'm wondering if Santorum might come from behind and really mess things up.

boy, the Democrats sure love this guy... maybe that's because he isn't a Republican...

Wow this ad just goes with a bunch of lies right at the beginning...

nice.. Not that id vote GOP, but I now have a negative opinion of huntsman.

real shaman: boy, the Democrats sure love this guy... maybe that's because he isn't a Republican...

Or because he's a circa-2000 Republican, not a batshiat crazy 2011 Republican.

ultraholland: serpent_sky: I've been theorizing that he's been hanging back to let the circus die down and let each of the complete whackjobs have their 15 minutes -- and then he will get a bit more aggressive.

He's hanging back there with Santorum; I'm wondering if Santorum might come from behind and really mess things up.

Well, I giggled.

GAT_00: Aside from the massively over the top rhetoric, it isn't a bad ad. But over the top rhetoric doesn't lose you Republican votes.

It has occurred to me that we should start worrying about Huntsman. What with the Republican rotation around different candidates every week, eventually Huntsman might get a turn, and if he peaks at the wrong/right time, say a week or so before New Hampshire, he could make a run for it. And honestly, that's simply bad. He could win a general, and I'm not up for things like Roe getting overturned.

He and Mittens are very similar in appeal, and they'd probably end up splitting their share of the vote. Someone else might sneak through and win with 26% of the vote. If there's any scenario that would end in a brokered convention, this one is it.

And even if he did secure the nomination, he'd need a Bachmann-style true believer as his running mate to keep the base in line. It'd be Palin all over again.

GAT_00: Aside from the massively over the top rhetoric, it isn't a bad ad. But over the top rhetoric doesn't lose you Republican votes.

It has occurred to me that we should start worrying about Huntsman. What with the Republican rotation around different candidates every week, eventually Huntsman might get a turn, and if he peaks at the wrong/right time, say a week or so before New Hampshire, he could make a run for it. And honestly, that's simply bad. He could win a general, and I'm not up for things like Roe getting overturned.

I think Gingrich may be the one to worry about. He's smart, experienced, he knows to compromise to things done ..

The problem with Gingrich is that he's a dick and turns people off with his dickish-ness. To be honest, I'd be ok with a dick that knows how to get things done.

The idea that Huntsman is reasonable is really laughable. He just seems sane by comparison.

TonnageVT: "The world is literally collapsing"

Literally?? really?? Yeah, you know the picture...

Damnit, someone opened the valve and now the giant earthball is deflating

FlashHarry: "the economy's worse, the stock market's a wreck."

these are literally lies.

the economy is better than when obama took office. true, it has worsened slightly since republicans took control of congress in january, but it is still better than it was in jan '09 (except unemployment, which is a lagging indicator and still too high, though it is also trending better).

and the stock market? give me a f*cking break! it is literally double where it was at its bottom in march of 2009. by any stretch, the stock market has soared under obama.

how the f*ck can these people get away with telling outright lies like this? where is the f*cking outrage?

How long have you been on Fark again?

RexTalionis: Out of all of them, only Rick Perry can be said to be "semi-educated." Most of the rest are really well-educated people (Herman Cain, for instance, has a Master's in CompSci, Newt Gingrich has a PhD in European History, Bachmann has a JD and LLM, Santorum also has a JD, Ron Paul has an MD).

The problem is that they're either ideologues, religious fanatics, opportunists, ignorant.

^ This. And I am a Democrat who loves making fun of these guys but no need to just pull things out of our ass and misspell it in the process.

marcpen: at least America won't end up looking like an international laughing stock.



Too late.

Somacandra: I prefer my U.S. elections to bring out the best and most substantive candidates possible on all sides. Call me crazy. This country needs a vibrant, sane Republican Party-- even if I disagree with them on many issues.

This, this, a thousand times this.

GAT_00: AeAe: He's smart, experienced

And says thinks like 'we're on the road to being a secular Islamic socialist nation.' He ain't that smart.

Somacandra: This country needs a vibrant, sane Republican Party

He's not really that sane. He only looks that way against Bachmann and Cain.

Remember, tho, that when he was Speaker with Clinton that they were able to balance the budget. And actually have surpluses. I think that would only have happened if Newt worked with his counterparts and compromised.

that's pretty crazy shiat he's spouting, but he's trying to get the nomination.

Don't get me wrong - I'm not a Newt supporter - I just think he's a dark horse candidate here and may be able to pull something off...

He's too right wing

* As gov. of Utah, he cut taxes by more than $400 million-the largest tax cut in the state's history

*served as Deputy United States Trade Representative under George W. Bush

* Due to his policies as governor, Utah was also named a top 3 state to do business in

*At the 2008 Republican National Convention, Huntsman delivered a nominating speech for Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, the party's nominee for Vice President

*proposed a plan to reform health-care, mainly through the private sector, by using tax breaks and negotiation to keep prices down

* Cato Institute ranking him in a tie for fifth place on overall fiscal policy of all US governors. Praised for his efforts to cut taxes, He also received the highest score on tax policy of all 50 governors. including his reductions of the sales tax and simplification of the tax code.

* Against Gay Marriage but he supports Gay Civil Unions, the same view as Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter, Laura Ingraham, etc

Current Policy (directly taken from his website)

*his regulatory reform consists of three objectives: (1) rolling back President Obama's health care overhaul and financial regulation reform, (2) reining in the Environmental Protection Agency's job-killing regulations, and (3) dramatically improving the cost-benefit analysis of future regulations and the discipline of federal regulatory agencies - particularly independent agencies like the National Labor Relations Board

*supports the "zero plan". Rather than nibble around the edges of the existing tax code, he will introduce a revenue-neutral plan that eliminates all deductions and credits in favor of three drastically lower rates of 8%, 14% and 23%.

*Reduce the Corporate Rate from 35% to 25%

*Eliminate the Taxes on Capital Gains and Dividends

*More free trade agreements, less tarrifs and regulations

* (direct quote) "The world is a better place when America leads. Our own interests are best served when we lead. American exceptionalism is not only about who we are as a people - but it also speaks to how the United States alone is positioned in the world to promote freedom, democracy, human rights, wealth creation, and security. It is a role we should not shrink from, but rather embrace.
Our goal as a nation should be to sustain our pre-eminence as a force for good.

We are of diminishing value to the world if we are a country in decline. Our ability to sustain this leadership role, for which so many around the globe rely on us, relates to the choices we make - or do not make - from this point forward. "


This guy's ideas and record is to the Right of Rick Perry. He's too right wing to win the GOP nomination

Like Ron Paul, John Huntsman looks, on the surface, like a viable mainstream candidate.

But once you get past the things that will never get him the nomination, he's just as tax-cutty, anti-government, pro-Christianity-as-state-religion as the rest of them. He, like the rest of the so-called "candidates", doesn't get why the general populace won't vote for him, even if by some miracle he won the nomination.

CapnBlues: Tusz: GAT_00: Aside from the massively over the top rhetoric, it isn't a bad ad. But over the top rhetoric doesn't lose you Republican votes.

It has occurred to me that we should start worrying about Huntsman. What with the Republican rotation around different candidates every week, eventually Huntsman might get a turn, and if he peaks at the wrong/right time, say a week or so before New Hampshire, he could make a run for it. And honestly, that's simply bad. He could win a general, and I'm not up for things like Roe getting overturned.

He and Mittens are very similar in appeal, and they'd probably end up splitting their share of the vote. Someone else might sneak through and win with 26% of the vote. If there's any scenario that would end in a brokered convention, this one is it.

And even if he did secure the nomination, he'd need a Bachmann-style true believer as his running mate to keep the base in line. It'd be Palin all over again.

Nah, they're doing proportional representation in the republican primaries, rather than winner-take-all. So the hypothetical "someone else" (I don't know who that would be, either!) might luck out with 25% in one or two states, but they're not going to get the 25% in every state that Romney will get. And Romney is really polling well in NH. All he needs is one or two of those early states and it'll push his numbers into winning territory.

Just my opinion there, but based at least partly in the facts. I'm definitely receptive to learning from more educated/informed/intelligent farkers, though. And that's not sarcasm -- I like Fark cause I learn. :)

I didn't realize they were doing proportional representation. Good for them. That changes things significantly, and in Romney's favor, as you say. However, I still don't think Huntsman will be able to pick up very many people that Romney hasn't, so I don't see him as being the next not-Romney when Gingrich's ~45 days are over.

As to who that "someone else" will be? Since they're fans of Newt, they don't seem to have any standards or shame, so we can't count anyone out based on quality control. And one of the few nutjobs who hasn't gotten a shot would be... oh jesus. Rick Santorum. And if Gingrich holds on for the customary 1.5 months... it'll land the first primaries right at the former senator's zenith, for maximum hilarity. I'd say it's a long shot, but the way things are going, I honestly wouldn't be surprised.

He's got my vote in the primary. Sure, I kicked around the idea of voting Bachmann or Cain for the lulz, but he is the only man on the ticket I can vote for without having to take a decontamination shower.

Because Fox news hates him.

theorellior: AeAe: Remember, tho, that when he was Speaker with Clinton that they were able to balance the budget. And actually have surpluses. I think that would only have happened if Newt worked with his counterparts and compromised.

Erm, no. It didn't happen that way.

Well, I'm pretty ignorant so tell me ..