Video: Huntsman boldly vows to carry on for some reason
posted at 10:23 pm on January 10, 2012 by Allahpundit
He held 170 public events and still finished a distant third behind Ron Paul, whom no one — including Ron Paul — thinks is going to be the nominee. And yet he soldiers on, promising to give voters an electable option even though New Hampshirites have already crowned Romney the electable option in the field. I wonder what the real reason is. Maybe it’s simple pride, the feeling that he simply can’t quit after one disappointing outing after having worked so hard for so long? (See also Perry, Rick.) Or maybe it’s institutional inertia, i.e. the campaign’s already spent money and put people in place in South Carolina so, hey, why not keep going? Or maybe he simply wants to play spoiler and try to take some moderate votes away from Romney before he’s 100 percent inevitable. Can’t say I find any of those reasons compelling, but it’s his dime.
Perry’s gotten all the grief these past few months for running a terrible campaign but don’t overlook this guy when making your list of the most dismal disappointments in recent Republican history. He had foreign policy experience and a decent record as governor — better than Romney’s, at least — and he offered some bold policy proposals on the trail this year, including backing Paul Ryan’s budget. And yet, whether due to his own poor instincts or horrible advice from John Weaver et al., he inexplicably decided to play identity politics games with the base. He should have finished second tonight, or even first, but he gambled that he could somehow eclipse Romney among moderate Republicans and then poach enough conservatives to win the sort of races Romney’s now winning against a split right-wing field. Why he thought he could do that when Mitt had outraised and outorganized him, I have no idea. Could be that he figured he’d have no chance against the next crop of Republicans like Jindal and Rubio and Christie and Ryan and therefore had to roll the dice now no matter how long the odds are against him. Regardless, he should have been smarter and done better. Too bad.
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Now there’s a dusty old name…I haven’t seen that sketch for at least ten years. Still remember it was funny!
MelonCollie on March 16, 2013 at 7:35 AM
Cheers:)
There is some amazing irony in your commentary – someone who sounds remarkably like a spoiled child calling me “juvenile” and “deliberately obtuse” for not being able to make sense of your delusional fantasies. I’ll have to leave it to others to make sense of your blatherings – which begin with the false premise- that the narcissistic Marxist grifter Obama and Romney are like ideological fraternal twins. It then wanders off into something I can’t comprehend. I gather it has something to do with being pissed off that Sarah Palin didn’t run as a third party Tea Party candidate, and thus being left with no choice but to stomp your foot, pick up your ball, and stay home? Or maybe you had Ron Paul in mind? Who the hell knows. I’m not going to waste any more time trying to make sense of your nonsensical ‘analysis’.
Buy Danish on March 16, 2013 at 8:37 AM
Romney did not rise to the occasion in the election, so why expect him to do so here?
Sherman1864 on March 16, 2013 at 11:40 AM
He lost by 3%, not a blow out, but a loss is a loss. He is a good and accomplished man who would have been a far better president than Obama who had no real accomplishments before his political life began. Romney isn’t a conservative and maybe that is why he lost but he is a respectable and humble man.
Dollayo on March 17, 2013 at 2:05 AM
He should be sorry he lost because he passed on the opportunity to unseat the Liar of Benghazi (oh, yes, where is that report now? What has the admnistration discovered?).
In a sense, this lack of political judgment disqualified him. We should have known not to nominate a person unable to beat McCain.
virgo on March 17, 2013 at 3:55 PM
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