Jon Huntsman’s YouTube page is clean as a whistle, baby, so I’m suggesting a new theme song for the last few minutes of a campaign that couldn’t be over soon enough for the tastes of the vast majority of Republicans.
I could say that Huntsman’s performance in New Hampshire is about as notable as Santorum’s in Iowa, but that would be unfair to Santorum. Like Santorum, Huntsman decided to stake it all on one state. Unlike Santorum, he didn’t even come close. Has anyone except the DC media ever shown a lick of excitement over this guy? Bachmann, Cain, Gingrich and Santorum all had their moment in the sun, but Huntsman couldn’t even attract a stray sunbeam. His effort to claw some attention from the rest of the pack was notable only for the clever and cutting anti-Romney ads that will surely appear again this Fall, if Newt doesn’t re-use them first. He’s proven himself uninspiring as a candidate, he’s useless as a spokesman for Romney after those ads, and he used a hell of a lot of Daddy’s money to run his campaign as a vanity project during the last few months. The only smart move he’s made is to get out of the race. Overall, I think he would have been better off as a fantasy object for Sully and Brooks, because the glow is off this golden boy for 2016.
jrg
There’s always Christie and Daniels to wank to… At least until they start cranking the crazy up to 11 for the 2016 primaries.
Then we’ll get to hear how shocked, shocked, Sully and Brooks are that they’re not “true conservatives”… And the snipe hunt for “true conservatism” will continue.
ornery_curmudgeon
Good analysis, Mix … I wondered why Huntsman never got a ‘lick of excitement’ and figured it was not having an infrastructure of winger support and pipelines of flowing money. I’d love to know what it was really, though.
MattF
I disagree about 2016. Four years is an infinite amount of time, ‘unreasonable ambition’ is a given for a professional politician, and Huntsman has a lot of money. He is also not-crazy, which, this year, is a negative for a Republican– but for 2016, who knows? As they say, it’s hard to make predictions, particularly about the future.
c u n d gulag
Ok, how long before the slobbering MSM types pair him with Evan Bayh for an AE 3rd Party run?
WereBear
Huntsman is not the type to inspire excitement. Intellect and bipartisanship can make up for that; except in the Republican party, which looooooves them some crazy.
mistermix
@MattF: I agree that it’s hard to say what will happen in 2016, but if Romney loses and the 2016 primary is remembered as a low point for Republicans since it was such a clown show, Huntsman just walked into a mudfight and got dirty rather than watching from the sidelines and staying clean.
Ira-NY
If he had held a steady line, he would have done better. But, as he campaigned the siren song of the loony right filled his head and he started spewing their nonsense. At that point, the difference that made him an intriguing candidate was gone.
PeakVT
Jon who?
Elizabelle
Will someone have cached copies of Huntsman’s youtube videos?
I never watched a one.
Have stayed as far as possible away from the GOP primaries.
Rey
Geez, Daddy’s money- reminds me of another colossal fuck up, W. Bush. Ughhh!
kerFuFFler
Somehow this tune (which used to remind me of Gingrich) now seems fitting for Huntsman for its childish innocence, early 1930’s sentimentality—–and then there are the lyrics. Enjoy Henry Hall’s Teddy Bears’ Picnic. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZANKFxrcKU
If you go out in the woods today
You’re sure of a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today
You’d better go in disguise.
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic.
Picnic time for teddy bears,
The little teddy bears are having a lovely time today.
Watch them, catch them unawares,
And see them picnic on their holiday.
See them gaily dance about.
They love to play and shout.
And never have any cares.
At six o’clock their mommies and daddies
Will take them home to bed
Because they’re tired little teddy bears.
If you go out in the woods today,
You’d better not go alone.
It’s lovely out in the woods today,
But safer to stay at home.
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain, because
Today’s the day the teddy bears have their picnic…
Hell, maybe it’s a better theme song for any of the Republican debates or other conclaves when they gather for their innocent-seeming but truly menacing gatherings.
Yevgraf
Going OT here, but everything has been interesting this weekend regarding the Costa Concordia.
Meritorious inheritor (and therefore Born Successful) Mickey Arison owns something like 57% of Carnival Inc., which owns Costa and 6 or 7 major cruise lines. He also owns the Miami Heat, which he seems to take a lot more interest in. The uniform complaints that I’m seeing both in straight news and on cruisecritic.com is that this was a catastrophe from moment one – inadequate training, inadequate supervision, inadequate response, and these passengers have been left dangling in the wind by Costa/Carnival. The social media flacks for Carnival have obviously been concern trolling boards, but I don’t think the message is sticking.
reflectionephemeral
That’s how it’s been from the very beginning. Huntsman announced the same day as Cain, trailed Cain by about 15 percent in polls… but received a ton of MSM coverage, while Cain got very little.
I noted that at the time, attributing it to the media’s centrist bias. Huntsman seemed rational, so he got attention and fluffing, because the media doesn’t want to acknowledge that the GOP is completely insane from top to bottom.
Dave
@Ira-NY: This. I thought he was playing the long game for 2016. After the Tea Party insanity killed the GOP in 2012 (and I am calling it now – Obama will win re-election), the establishment would clamp down and purge the party. Then they’d need a candidate who didn’t act like a maniac. Huntsman would have been that guy.
Then he started in on that “climate change isn’t real” bullshit. Oh well…
dr. bloor
See Nixon, Dick.
Hawes
I’ve actually spoken to a few moderate Republicans or ex-Republicans who ONLY liked Huntsman. They are Eisenhower/Teddy Roosevelt Republicans from a by-gone era (I think they were all over 50) who wanted a sane candidate.
The problem isn’t that NOBODY liked Huntsman, it was that the wrong people liked Huntsman.
DanielX
Actually, one of the best parts of the silly season has been watching David Brooks trying to come up with appropriate Brooksian bullshit for whomever has bubbled to the top of the crazy pool from week to week. Most recently it’s been Santorum, for whom even Brooks struggled to come up with a tongue bath. Makes me want to put my moralistic hat, even though it wore out quite some time ago: David, you slut! Sleazing around with all these different guys just to preserve status as a Villager in good standing…have you no pride or self respect? Oh, wait…I forgot.
More of this in 2016, please.
MattF
@DanielX: Brooks serves a real purpose for the right wing– several abashed conservatives at my workplace have commented to me that they like his columns. They are not happy campers, but they still like Mr. Brooks.
My reply, generally, is that Brooks is what would have been called a ‘fellow traveller’, back in the day. Thoughtful, intelligent, yadda yadda,… but, somehow, always ends up following the party line.
Villago Delenda Est
@mistermix:
Guys who stayed clean: Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, even the loathsome dweeb Mitch Daniels.
@DanielX:
Good point. BoBo strikes me as being a contestant on “The Dating Game” mooning over the various bachelors and trying to find a star to hitch his broken wagon to.
The sooner a meteor hits the Village, the better.
scav
Didn’t know there was music too it: Glenn Miller in appropriately scratchy version.
Hoodie
The only place where Huntsman was sane was on a few cultural issues. I think his association with Obama made him toxic in the Republican Party, who will probably never forgive him for that apostasy. BTW, does anyone think Obama was brilliant in using this guy’s vanity to take him out of action before he could even get out of port? A similar thing happened to Charlie Crist, who could have been a moderate contender in 2012. Obama’s repeated humping of bipartisanship has helped hasten the demise of the “moderate” wing of the Republican Party.
DanielX
@MattF: Well, of course. After all, he’s a Very Serious Person.
jurassicpork
Today’s my birthday and donations at Pottersville would be deeply appreciated, especially since Mrs. JP’s recent emergency trip to see family in FL set us back a month.
Privatize the Profits! Socialize the Costs!
Hmmm… that’s a little harsh, dontcha think?
I’d never, ever, EVER vote Republican, but it IS reassuring to see that their leading spokespeople are not ALL f@#$%ing bonkers.
amk
@PeakVT: egg.sack.lee.
An also-not-ran who will not even be remembered come Feb.
A cowardly pos who didn’t stand for anything in the end.
Comrade Mary
I would have gone with Never There.
On the phone long, long distance,
Always through such strong resistance,
And first you say you’re too busy,
I wonder if you even miss me.
BUT all the Huntsman ads are still here — for now. Someone with the appropriate tools should acquire them ASAP.
Amir Khalid
Which is the more likely reason for Huntsman pulling his Mitt-bashers off YouTube: that the party establishment leaned on him like they did with Noot, or that he’s wishing and hoping Mitt will pick him for VP?
amk
@Amir Khalid: Two mormons on the ticket ? Not.gonna.happen. The right wing will go into a collective cardiac arrest.
xian
@MattF: then again, it won’t really be “his turn.” It will be Santorum’s or Ron Paul’s.
the again Bush Jr. skipped the whole “becoming next in line” step too.
Villago Delenda Est
@Amir Khalid:
He’s probably pining for Secretary of State in the ever more mythical by the day Romney administration.
To amplify on my comment at 19, all the eligible bachelors Brooks is checking out make Larry the Cable Guy look like George Clooney.
M-pop
@MattF: I agree – 2016 may not seem like a long time but then you overestimate the ability of the American people to remember the bad things – we are a nation of pathological optimists. And Huntsman can run on “not insane” as his platform.
Amir Khalid
@amk:
That’s why I’m asking. The latter hasn’t struck me either as all that likely. The former is the most plausible reason I can think of, but there may be some other possibility I’m missing.
SiubhanDuinne
@xian:
Ron Paul will be 81 by election day 2016. I can’t imagine in my wildest dreams. . . . Okay, we’re talking about Republicans here. Um, never mind.
Villago Delenda Est
@xian:
Ron Paul wouldn’t get a turn if he were 45 right now instead of 76. His vile spawn won’t ever get a turn, either.
Santorum probably won’t but due to his K Street connections, at least has a foothold in the GOP establishment that determines who gets an anointed turn.
Amir Khalid
@Villago Delenda Est:
After the hammering he’s given Mitt up to now, I don’t think I fancy his chances of becoming Mitt’s Secretary of State, or indeed Mitt’s Secretary of anything.
amk
@Amir Khalid: You want one more reason ? How about huntsman brings zero votes to the ticket ?
Hal
Huntsman’s ability to run in directly correlated to how well Romney does. If he loses the general election by a large margin, then you will see Republicans argue that moving in Huntsman’s direction is for the parties future.
The real problem is if the election is close, or Romney wins (which I personally don’t think is going to happen), then you’ll here people argue they just need to be more conservative and move even further right. Though at this point, the GOP is already on the edge. Anymore right and they’ll be left.
lol
Huntsman dropped out?
Hill Dweller
@Dave: Don’t count out Romneybot just yet. If village idiots like Candy Crowley have their way, Obama won’t win a damn thing.
catclub
@Villago Delenda Est: Nope, his vile spawn has dropped the ‘no foreign wars’ part so is good to go with the general GOP. I would not at all be surprised at a Rand Paul run.
Santorum, who was clobbered for senate RE-election and who would not win his own state now, I just cannot see.
On the other hand, for democrats’ purposes, Santorum is ideal.
Shalimar
@Amir Khalid: My guess is the Romney campaign saw the newspaper endorsement for Huntsman yesterday and worried it would take a few points away from them in the primary next weekend, so Huntsman was offered a cabinet position to drop out and endorse. Definitely not VP though, that isn’t going to happen.
edited to add: If there is one thing you can count on with Romney, it is that his focus is entirely on what is happening right now. He has no long term vision or values. He does and says anything that will help him today.
amk
@lol: yeah, tree falling in the forest and all that.
handsmile
@dr. bloor: (#15)
Nixon served as Vice-President for eight years, and as both congressman and senator from California before that. As one of the few GOP leaders with national prominence after the 1964 Goldwater debacle, Nixon campaigned vigorously for many Republican candidates in the 1966 midterm elections, in which the party gained seats in both houses of Congress and governorships.
Nixon called in those chits two years later to help defeat his principal presidential primary challengers, Governors George Romney, Nelson Rockefeller, and Reagan.
Jon Huntsman’s entire career as an elected official amounts to one term as the governor of the 34th most populous state, a state dominated by one race and one religion. In 2016, it will have been seven years since he held office. If he gets bored running Daddy’s company over the next several years, he might consider a primary challenge that year to Utah’s junior senator and Tea Party darling, Mike Lee.
Any 2016 presidential candidacy by Jon Huntsman will enjoy the robust success of Fred Thompson in 2008.
Villago Delenda Est
The GOP might seriously reconsider reanimating the corpse of Harold Stassen and running him, but on second thought, the man is practically a card carrying member of Stalin’s politburo in modern GOP terms, so scotch that idea.
Stassen presidential runs were something of a running joke when I was a kid back in the 60’s.
Villago Delenda Est
@Shalimar:
In other words, Romney is the typical short term (don’t think beyond say two fiscal quarters) MBA asshat.
Churchlady
@dr. bloor: I think even the most passionate follower of the GOP remembers Tricky Dick. The problem is that Huntsman is NOT observably crooked, so while Nixon is not the template, your observation is good. Much of that depends on how a second term progresses. I’m not at all sure the GOP can recover well IF a second term makes headway on our national crises which they will do if both houses are recaptured this November and if real solutions are made. It may be a long run for the Dems. What that party needs though is a worthy successor to the president. Huntsman is just dull, dull, dull and lacks imagination for anything remotely appealing to even independents. We shall see.
SiubhanDuinne
@Hill Dweller: I try to avoid Candy Crowley. Has she said or done something especially egregious lately, or just more of the usual?
Benjamin Franklin
OT;
Just thought I’d share another disappointment of mine; Craig Murray.
British imperious arrogance is as healthy as it was during the reign of King George.
http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2012/01/american-killers/
Norwonk
When you go for the Colbert Bump and that bump ends up sending Stephen Colbert past you in the polls, it’s high time to bow out of the race.
RalfW
Huntsman, Aug, 2011: “I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”
The insane GOP indeed called him crazy.
Which I guess means he’s sane. So. Meanwhile the nutters keep at it.
Lev
Hey all, you should go check out my new parody site: http://gingrich-cain-2012.com/
Hill Dweller
@SiubhanDuinne: Benen has a post on it.
Axelrod was on Crowley’s show yesterday, and she was parroting the Romney campaign’s job numbers, which lays the blame for all the early ’09 job losses on Obama.
JWL
California’s Pete Wilson was once ballyhooed as a seriously viable presidential candidate, up until people got a good look at him on the campaign trail. To this day, if the conversation touches on the ’88 campaign, I’ll struggle to recall the name of Michael Dukakis. Grey Davis was recalled because he is as boring as a plate of mashed potatoes. Huntsman was undoubtedly ignored for a variety of reasons, most of them excellent. But his personality certainly lent itself to his being shunned as a candidate. As evidenced by his endorsement of Romney, he is nothing more than a typical GOP mutt. All the kudos he enjoyed as being perceived as the “un-clown” in that preposterous circus vanished in that instant. What more does anyone need to know about the guy?
dr. bloor
@handsmile:
Sorry, but anyone who calls anybody out of a race four years down the road in American Politics is an ahistorical fool.
SiubhanDuinne
@Hill Dweller:
Thanks.
Candy must be fluffing her résumé for the next Public Editor opening at the NYTimes.
handsmile
@dr. bloor:
Care to cite any “historical” evidence or is ad hominem your stock-in-trade?
Sorry, but thanks for playing!
4jkb4ia
In a case of complete serendipity, the NYT decided to write today about the struggle of small local stores against virtual big-box stores. Amazon’s price-checking application was singled out in the article.
No link because–
This is a complicated story. nytimes.com knows me from an email address at umsl.edu from back in 2000 when everything was still free. My home subscription is not associated with that address. It is confused and not giving me the articles for free that I am entitled to. If I do not hear back from them in a few hours I will try to work this out on the phone because there is no reason I should have to pay another $15 a month.
4jkb4ia
Part of it also was that Huntsman didn’t have the courage of his convictions. In that League interview, John called Huntsman a real conservative, and that’s what Sully believed, too. But neither of them were willing to go the distance with him this time–walking back his global warming position was the only thing I remember that would cause that, but it was certainly significant enough. Ron Paul had a real following whose existence would cause people to think twice about casting a protest vote against what the Republican Party has become by voting for Huntsman. Ron Paul is a protest vote against everything in politics.
I still remember the Dave Weigel post that said that what Huntsman had going for him was an appearance of intelligence and media-savviness, and the voters had already tried that with Obama.
Gust Avrakotos
mistermix still masturbates over the though of Failin or Chump entering the race. He will swallow any fantasy the main stream media tries to sell him. In other words, he is your typical gullible news consumer.
Normally that is nothing but one big YAWWWWN but this fucking guy is trying to be a political blogger…..HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Surely a political blogger, even one on some backwoods swamp blog like BJ should be smarter than that no?
Yutsano
@Gust Avrakotos: Herp de herp.
4jkb4ia
This is the same person who thought Newt was going to be out of it by now. However, I think Huntsman is a pipe dream for 2016. Christie is only one of the possible candidates who have just been elected, are too green for it now, but will have 4 years to see if they can look impressive enough to be president. If Obama is reelected with a Republican Senate perhaps McConnell will allow some of the McConnellbots to develop leadership qualities so that they will be known to the voters. As far as running against Lee Huntsman should see if Hatch will get teabagged, because Hatch is far more conservative than Huntsman. If Hatch can’t survive Huntsman has no chance.
burnspbesq
@4jkb4ia:
Relax. Christie is getting bounced out of Trenton in 2013.
PhoenixRising
@Shalimar: My guess is the Romney campaign saw the newspaper endorsement for Huntsman yesterday and worried it would take a few points away from them in the primary next weekend, so Huntsman was offered a cabinet position to drop out and endorse
Yeah, I think you’re right on the first half and wrong on the second. The Romney campaign got a call on the Smear Phone from Rove, reminding them how to knock out a dad who’s gotten out of his place–have you seen Hunstman’s kids? Recall how W became the front runner in SC?
If I were Jon’s wife and nearly-adult kids, I would have thrown myself in front of the train before this. Republican primaries are no place for mixed-race families, especially in South Carolina.
Jack Knife Bomber
Jon Huntsman, like Liz Phair, was tone deaf.
Chris
@Jack Knife Bomber:
haha, nice.
Still, Guyville did rock the joint. Brad Wood deserves credit for making a great record with a singer who can’t carry a tune, pre-autotune era. The other one is the Stone Roses debut album by John Leckie. You’d hate to see the tape when these were finished, they must look worse than the arms of emo girls will after the Twilight series comes to an end.