Democrats Say, Huntsman Is Our Man

Harry Reid rises above partisan politics and declares Jon Huntsman to be his preferred choice for the GOP nomination. The fact that Reid’s son was chosen by Huntsman to be on Utah’s Board of Regents and that Huntsman’s family contributed nearly $25,000 to Reid’s reelection campaign was not a consideration in his choice of Huntsman.

Reid said on Tuesday, “If I had a choice in that race, I’d choose Huntsman over Romney.”

Huntsman’s family had a choice in the 2008 elections and they chose Reid and the Democratic Party. The Huntsman family are long time supporters of Reid and the Democrat Party and the donations paid off when Jon Huntsman was chosen by President Obama as his ambassador to China.

But his parents and a couple of his brothers (Peter, James) and some in-laws have. And his Dad even helped the Nevada Democratic Party ($5,000) in 2008. I’m told Reid has known the senior Huntsman since the 1990s and is friendly with the son, too.

Here’s a list of the donations from the GOP candidate’s family to Reid (with help from CQ MoneyLine):

Jon Huntsman, Sr., Karen Huntsman $9,600 (2/4/09)

Peter, Brynn Huntsman $9,600 (12/31/09)

James, Marianne Huntsman $4,600 (11/30/09)

Jon Huntsman, Sr. $2,000 (11/2/04)

UPDATE: Huntsman responded on twitter to this report: “I’ve never donated a dime to @HarryReid and wouldn’t. My record in Utah balancing budgets very different from his.”

His relatives are not concerned with Reid’s budget balancing capabilities.

Jon Huntsman announced his bid for the GOP nomination along with his loyalty and love for Barrack Obama in front of the Statue of Liberty in a style meant to invoke Reagan’s announcement of his candidacy against President Carter.

Huntsman says of President Obama, “He and I have a difference of opinion on how to help the country we both love.”

While Huntsman has an understandable affection for Obama: Reagan had no such affection or love for Carter. From Reagan’s uncivil speech in front of the Statue of Liberty, denouncing Carter’s handling of the economy:

REAGAN: The Carter record is a litany of despair, of broken promises, of sacred trusts abandoned and forgotten. His answer to all this misery? He tries to tell us that we’re only in a recession, not a depression — as if definitions — words — relieve our suffering. Let it show on the record that when the American people cried out for economic help, Jimmy Carter took refuge behind a dictionary. Well, if it’s a definition he wants, I’ll give him one: A recession is when your neighbor loses his job. A depression is when you lose yours. And recovery is when Jimmy Carter loses his!

Huntsman, if he even has visions of victory, wants a civil debate and for the candidates to love each other regardless of the results.

HUNTSMAN: — it concerns me that civility, humanity, and respect are sometimes lost in our interactions as Americans. Our political debates today are corrosive and not reflective of the belief that Abe Lincoln espoused. I don’t think you need to run down someone’s reputation in order to run for the office of president. I respect the President of the United States. He and I have a difference of opinion on how to help a country we both love, but the question each of us wants the voters to answer is “Who will be the better president?” not who’s the better American.

The Propaganda pundits of Obama’s State controlled media are in euphoria over the possibility of Huntsman’s nomination and his choice of Reagan’s announcement location for the announcement of his candidacy.

WILLIE GEIST: Jon Huntsman set today to do his best Ronald Reagan impression.

CAROL COSTELLO: Jon Huntsman channeling Ronald Reagan.

MIKA BRZEZINSKI: …the same spot Ronald Reagan kicked off his 1980 general e…election campaign.

F. CHUCK TODD: …wants to channel Ronald Reagan themes of American renewal.

JOHN HARRIS: Obviously an attempt to invoke the imagery of Ronald Reagan.

JIM ACOSTA: This is the spot where Ronald Reagan announced his presidential bid in 1980.

JOHN HEILEMANN: Invoking the memory of the sainted Ronald Reagan.

WILLIAM KRISTOL: Ronald Reagan. That’s what they’re hoping to evoke.

The NYT reveals more about this candidate of whom only 35% of Republicans have heard of and only 30% of those say they would vote for in a more realistic approach for the Democratic choice for the Republican nomination.

At that same news conference, he also refused, bizarrely, to describe himself as a conservative. Huntsman said he didn’t like political labels, but if he had to pick one, he considered himself a “pragmatic problem-solver.”
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There are two ways to look at all this, depending on your perception of what’s happening in the Republican Party. A lot of political handicappers — particularly those on the left, who tend to view the Republican base as monolithic and somewhat medieval — doubt that Huntsman can even win enough delegates to earn himself a decent speaking slot at the convention. My colleague Nate Silver, who blogs his statistical analysis for The Times, has argued that Huntsman has no more than a remote chance of scoring the nomination. Skeptics point out that not only did Huntsman go to work for a Democratic president, but he also sent warm letters to that president, calling him a “remarkable leader.” Huntsman believes in the science of climate change, and he favors civil unions for gay couples and leniency for the children of illegal immigrants.

Obviously, the Democrats are ecstatic over the possibility of the Republicans running a Liberal Lite against Obama in a half hearted campaign that would never be so bold to mention the utter failure and devastation that Obama’s Experiment in Marxism has wreaked on America, but the question remains , are we going to take Huntsman’s campaign seriously?