Salon.com > Jon Huntsman

Prominent Republicans sign brief in support of gay marriage

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 14:09:00 +0000

In a brief submitted to the Supreme Court, dozens of prominent former Republican officials argued that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry, and urged the Court to uphold a decision that struck down Proposition 8, California's ban on same-sex marriages.

From the New York Times:

The list of signers includes a string of Republican officials and influential thinkers — 75 as of Monday evening — who are not ordinarily associated with gay rights advocacy, including some who are speaking out for the first time and others who have changed their previous positions.

Among them are Meg Whitman, who supported Proposition 8 when she ran for California governor; Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of Florida and Richard Hanna of New York; Stephen J. Hadley, a Bush national security adviser; Carlos Gutierrez, a commerce secretary to Mr. Bush; James B. Comey, a top Bush Justice Department official; David A. Stockman, President Ronald Reagan’s first budget director; and Deborah Pryce, a former member of the House Republican leadership from Ohio who is retired from Congress.

Conservative scholar floats Jon Huntsman as Speaker replacement

Wed, 26 Dec 2012 17:58:00 +0000

Norm Ornstein, a scholar for the conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, suggests that there is a possibility that John Boehner could be ousted as Speaker of the House, and, if he is, that Republicans should look beyond the House for a replacement. Namely, Jon Huntsman.

Writing in the Washington Post, Ornstein theorizes that "If 17 Republicans vote for someone other than Boehner, and he falls short of an absolute majority of all the votes cast, the House will be thrown into turmoil — no elected speaker, and the prospect of additional ballots and a whole lot of intrigue before the new speaker is chosen and sworn in."

Citing Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution, he argues that the Constitution does not say specifically that the speaker must be a member of the House.

Fromt the Post:

There’s absolutely no reason for the GOP (or anyone) to listen to Jon Huntsman

Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:45:00 +0000

Former Utah governor, U.S. ambassador to China and failed presidential candidate Jon Huntsman has been making the media rounds recently, sitting down with the Huffington Post and CNN, sharing his big ideas about How to Save the Republican Party From Itself.*

Before we get into those ideas, and their merit, something should be made very clear: It doesn't matter what Jon Huntsman thinks, at all. Conservatives should feel no obligation to listen to him, because he has no constituency in the Republican Party -- no allies, supporters or acolytes. Liberals shouldn't listen to him because for all his "the GOP must remake itself in my image" talk, he always conveniently forgets to mention that he's precisely as conservative -- on all the same issues -- as Mitt Romney is. (Or as Mitt Romney became, as the case may be.) His "centrism" is entirely a matter of style and tone.

Jim Messina: Huntsman was Obama’s biggest threat

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Jim Messina, President Obama's campaign manager, says that he was most worried about a general election campaign against former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.

"We were honest about our concerns about Huntsman," Messina said, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. "I think Huntsman [as Republican nominee] would have been a tough general election campaign."

From the Tribune:

Senior Obama adviser David Plouffe had expressed such concern even before Utah’s former governor launched his failed presidential bid, with one journalist noting that a Huntsman candidacy made Plouffe a "wee bit queasy."

Huntsman suspended his campaign after landing third in the New Hampshire Republican primary.

Jon Huntsman for New York City mayor?

Thu, 17 May 2012 17:36:00 +0000

Yes, Jon Huntsman should definitely run for mayor of New York, because I never tire of watching Jon Huntsman get rejected by voters. The best part of a Jon Huntsman campaign is when his well-heeled supporters very sincerely and tragically argue that the fact that no one wants to vote for Jon Huntsman is a sign that the Republic itself is in peril. They would get so sad and melodramatic when he got 10 percent of the vote.

Now, there is no evidence that Jon Huntsman is planning for run for mayor of New York City, but one of his annoying daughters tossed this one out there last night:

Trying to convince dad @JonHuntsman to run for mayor of NYC. Thoughts? #whynot?

— Abby Huntsman (@HuntsmanAbby) May 17, 2012

Why not? I mean sure he has never lived in New York and has no connection to the city, but why not?

Jon Huntsman uninvited from RNC gala

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Jon Huntsman may have endorsed Mitt Romney for president, but the former Utah governor doesn't actually like Mitt Romney, or even particularly want him to be president that much. That's why Huntsman went on "Morning Joe" last month and repudiated the entire Republican Party and all of its current presidential candidates. Then he offered support for a third party.

So ... this didn't go over well with the Republican Party, the one that Huntsman is a member of. Buzzfeed reports that the RNC has uninvited Huntsman from its "lavish donor gathering in Palm Beach this weekend," where Huntsman was originally intended to be a speaker.

The party was for RNC "Regents," people who donate or bundle $60,000 to the committee, and as the top tier of donors they are the RNC's No. 1 top priority. I guess speaking to these rich people is some sort of fancy honor, and not having to address them is a cruel punishment for not being a very good Republican. But Jon Huntsman's already incredibly wealthy and not running for anything anymore, so it's not like he needs to party with big donors.

Huntsman’s dad bankrolled his campaign

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:44:00 +0000

Today we are finally learning who bankrolls the super PACs that have been dominating the Republican primary, as they file Federal Election Commission reports detailing their finances. The groups managed to exploit a loophole to delay their disclosures until today, after several key primaries and caucuses have already been held.

As of this writing, the filings of the super PACs backing Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have not yet appeared on the FEC's website. But we have learned something about the pro-Jon Huntsman group, Our Destiny PAC: It was funded primarily by Huntsman's father, Jon Huntsman Sr.

Huntsman Sr. is the founder and chairman of the Huntsman Corp., a giant chemical company, and he was on Forbes' list of the 1,000 richest people in the world in 2010.

Jon Huntsman: The “Colbert” conservative

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:45:00 +0000

[UPDATED BELOW]

Republican hopeful Jon Huntsman was on "The Colbert Report" last night, reinforcing his status as the most reasonable -- and likely unelectable -- politician in the GOP field. Over the course of the interview, Huntsman seemed comfortable and well spoken as he addressed a number of issues that have hounded him on the campaign trail, including his ambassadorship in China, his Mormon faith, and his remarkably moderate politics. More notable, though, might have been the one thing Huntsman didn't do during his conversation with Colbert -- disparage his former boss, Barack Obama.