Must be certifiably insane in order to appeal to the Tea Party and social conservative cohorts in a party moving further and further way from its moderate members.
With the news that Governor Mitch Daniels of Indiana is not going to run, the field of potential Republican candidates who might appeal to independent voters shrank some more. Former Minnesota Governor Pawlenty is set to announce tomorrow, former Massachusetts Governor Romney is already in, and former Governor (and Obama’s Ambassador to China) Huntsman is thinking about it.
Other than those guys, the field looks awesome. Sarah Palin, Michelle Bachmann, Herman Cain or Newt Gingrich; I suspect President Obama would be delighted to run against any one of them.
Romney’s got his Massachusetts health care reform baggage; it’s very close to what the Affordable Care Act turned out to be, and it’s anathema to the Republican rank-and-file. Pawlenty’s got an identity problem; if voters know of him they probably think of him as “that guy who was Governor when that bridge in Minneapolis collapsed.” Huntsman also has an identity problem, since he’s been overseas for the past two years (and working for the current occupant of the White House at that).
A lot can change in 18 months, but right now I’d say barring a terrorist attack inside the US or another disastrous financial collapse Obama’s the odds-on favorite to win re-election.
On the other hand, I’m fascinated by the fact that Jon Huntsman speaks fluent Mandarin. From what I read the other day, he’s dead serious, and he’s much more centrist than some of the others. But the idea of a U.S. President who could speak to the Chinese without an interpreter absolutely blows my mind! (Even if he is a Republican…)
The trouble for Huntsman is that, like most of the other “respectable” Republicans, in order to get past the primaries he’ll have to disavow all his previous stands on things like health care and cap & trade.