Huntsman is a serious politician, as opposed to all but Romney in the Rep camp, and a serious conservative, which makes him different from Romney. But he is definitely not the man for the times. These are not the times for austerity programs, for rolling back the social programs of the last sixty or seventy years, or for reducing entitlements, regulations, and the array of programs that are the role of the state in what's left of late capitalism.
Huntsman, for my money, is the most worrisome of Rep candidates. I assume that if Romney gets the nomination, we will get a third party candidacy. At least one of them; possibly two. If, however, Hunstman gets it, the tea party types are likely to find out he's actually a long time consistent conservative. In that case, the third party that will inevitably emerge, will be much weaker than if Romney is the Rep candidate.
The second problem with Huntsman is that, with control of both houses of congress (I think the loss of the senate is inevitable should the Reps win the presidency) and the presidency, we can see a great many of the safety net programs disappear even further. And all those dire predictions of third world status may well come true much quicker than anticipated. |
