Jon Huntsman Resigns, Fueling Speculation Among Politico Reporters That He May Try for GOP Nomination, Though No One Else Knows Who He Is

Let me make this short and sweet: I've got a better shot at the GOP Presidential nomination than Jon Huntsman. Politico is at it again, marketing a McCain-like "maverick" as a realistic Republican candidate.

Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the U.S. ambassador to China, sent a resignation letter to President Barack Obama on Monday and now is likely to explore a Republican presidential bid, a close associate told POLITICO... the former Utah governor said that he wants to return to the United States by May

...GOP allies of Huntsman have already begun laying plans for a quick-start campaign should the former Utah governor decide to enter the ill-defined Republican field... Over the holidays, the ex-governor met with Sen. John McCain, whose 2008 presidential run Huntsman backed early on. [Ed.: Perfect, just what we need]

...His ambitions have been very much noted in the West Wing. And for public consumption, Obama and his top aides have responded by poking fun at the possibility... "I couldn’t be happier with the ambassador’s service, and I’m sure he will be very successful in whatever endeavors he chooses in the future," Obama said of Huntsman at a White House press conference earlier this month with Chinese President Hu Jintao and the ambassador himself... At an off-the-record dinner Saturday night, at which Huntsman was also present, White House Chief of Staff William Daley kept up the mockery.

...For all their quips, Obama officials are a tad irritated at the barely-veiled presidential moves of their own ambassador in one of the most important countries in the world.

Rest assured that the Obama administration, Politico and every other left-wing rag west of Manchester England will try to position Huntsman as some kind of legitimate GOP contender.

He's not. No one has ever heard of him, save a few Politico reporters who got downsized from the Washington Post.

Aside from his troubling affiliation with the squishy and inarticulate John McCain, Cubachi accurately observes that the background of Huntsman (Gesundheit!) is distinctly problematic for conservatives.

There’s a reason why the Utah Tea Party booed Huntsman.

I couldn’t care less if he can speak Chinese or was governor of Utah... Huntsman is a progressive republican, and held liberal positions while in office. He is a liberal on social issues, an amnesty shill, and publicly endorsed cap and trade. After Obama’s election to the presidency, Huntsman even called for the republican party to move to the center to attract voters...

A wishy-washy Republican who is indistinguishable on core issues from Democrats can't win in a general election. November's thrashing of Democrats proves that Constitutional conservatism is on the ascendancy. And Huntsman is anything but a true conservative.

No offense to Mike Huckabee fans, but the media engaged in precisely this same form of information warfare in 2008. Huckabee was unelectable in the general election, as many of his prior positions were largely indistinguishable from those of Barack Obama, who was a far stronger campaigner.

Constitutional conservatives could and did take issue with many of Huckabee's prior positions including illegal immigration, global warming, higher taxes, crime and parole. In short, a weak, centrist GOP candidate had no chance against a Democrat without any track record and a distinct proclivity for lying.

If the Republican Party wants to win the presidential election, it had better nominate an articulate conservative who believes, first and foremost, in the United States Constitution.

News flash for the leftist nitwits: letting the Obama administration and Politico pick Republican candidates isn't going to fly.


Hat tip: Memeorandum. Linked by: Michelle Malkin. Thanks!