“I looked down the debate stage, and half of them were probably on Fox contracts at one point”
“Some do it professionally. Some were entertainers,” he said of the Republican presidential field. “I looked down the debate stage, and half of them were probably on Fox contracts at one point in their career. You do that. You write some books. You go out and you sell some more. You get a radio gig or a TV gig out of it or something. And it’s like, you say to yourself, the barriers of entry to this game are pretty damn low.”
He chuckled a bit when reminded that a pizza conglomerate, in the person of Herman Cain, had led the Iowa caucus polls at one point. “It wasn’t a period where rational thinking or any kind of commitment to reality or truth or optimism necessarily prevailed,” Huntsman said. “It was how can you eviscerate the opposition.”
The process engulfed him too. During one such debate in August 2011, Huntsman joined the chorus of opposition to a hypothetical deficit-reduction deal that had $10 of spending cuts for every $1 in revenue hikes. It was, he said now, “pretty much the low point of [my] campaign.”
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And, that’s setting a pretty danged low bar!
GWB on November 29, 2012 at 1:44 PM
I think he’s after Susan Rice’s job.
davidk on November 29, 2012 at 1:45 PM
A Meighy Mac video in the link is a sprinkle on the crap donut of Jon Huntsman.
portlandon on November 29, 2012 at 1:46 PM
First day in politics?
Moesart on November 29, 2012 at 1:46 PM
Even if true, it certainly was not the low point of his career.
steebo77 on November 29, 2012 at 1:47 PM
He went on to say..”Jgi zi diem noodle!”..which is Mandarin for “Somebody pay attention to me!”
Mimzey on November 29, 2012 at 1:48 PM
I think I’ve just about had enough of Benedict Huntsman…
Common Sense Floridian on November 29, 2012 at 1:49 PM
Herman Cain’s presence on the stage this year pretty much rules out all minority participation from the GOP.
Marco Rubio has not been savaged by our own special-brand of ID politics. But he will suffer attacks just like Allen West did the first time he said something that seemed to favor minorities.
May as well bring back Jesse Helms.
Capitalist Hog on November 29, 2012 at 1:50 PM
A lot of this rings true but this is what gets me with moderate Republicans. They are quite willing – happy really – to go after their own party and others in it.
But they think going after liberals and Democrats is too nasy, too partisan, it’s just not the right thing to do.
They really do enjoy beating up on their own than the opposition.
Very odd behavior.
SteveMG on November 29, 2012 at 1:51 PM
Gary Huntsman, right? Isn’t it ironical that Romney is seated with Obama right at this minute? Maybe Barry wants a SOB….
tommy71 on November 29, 2012 at 1:52 PM
Fighting against tax hikes was the low point of his campaign? Oh, man, my Huntsman hate is totally validated.
theperfecteconomist on November 29, 2012 at 1:52 PM
You seem to specialize in revisionist history. It was the left that savaged Herman Cain.
MechanicalBill on November 29, 2012 at 1:55 PM
I dont think Cain had a rich daddy , mr Curt Huntsman.
the_nile on November 29, 2012 at 1:57 PM
I would have to say this ad, complete with a not-totally-inexplicable rhino in the grass, was the true low point of the Huntsman campaign.
(P.S. That ad was fake, but accurate.)
steebo77 on November 29, 2012 at 1:59 PM
Calling someone a traitor, implying it at least is pretty easy from your anonymous perch. In what capacity have you served your country?
I would guess based on your reply that you have no formal education beyond high school. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s just interesting, that’s all.
Capitalist Hog on November 29, 2012 at 2:01 PM
So you’re saying that CONSERVATIVES, not LIBERALS, are the ones who savaged Herman Cain, Allen West, etc?
steebo77 on November 29, 2012 at 2:01 PM
Herman Cain didn’t need a rich dad to come off like a buffoon. “Aww shucky-ducky.”
Capitalist Hog on November 29, 2012 at 2:07 PM
You’re making a statement and asking a question. Nice, multi-tasking.
Capitalist Hog on November 29, 2012 at 2:07 PM
The left will ALWAYS attack minority conservatives. DUH!
Capitalist Hog on November 29, 2012 at 2:08 PM
Actually Huntsman, Cain got his FOX contract after running and he still kicked your ass until he dropped out. No reason to be jealous, noted Obama employee.
BKennedy on November 29, 2012 at 2:08 PM
Jon Huntsman himself was the lowest point of the Huntsman campaign.
BKennedy on November 29, 2012 at 2:09 PM
But the second Allen West steps “out of line” he gets insulted on the basis of his race. It seems that minorities are convenient props for the current GOP. This is new.
It has always been that way on the left. It’s sad to see it matched on the right.
Capitalist Hog on November 29, 2012 at 2:09 PM
Conservatives savaged Herman Cain, liberals savaged Allen West.
Gelsomina on November 29, 2012 at 2:12 PM
Bkennedy.
Are you really going to stand behind the idea that Herman Cain had more experience and qualifications to be POTUS than Huntsman?
Let’s take their policy-platform point by point. You’ll come out looking like an idiot trying to defend him.
It’s ok folks. He’s black and conservative and a buffoon. I know it’s hard to attack him on some other basis than his race for some. But Herman Cain was all sorts of flawed.
Capitalist Hog on November 29, 2012 at 2:14 PM
Cain savaged diction. Allen West has been savaged by the left. He has also been raciall-insulted by the right for Pigford.
Capitalist Hog on November 29, 2012 at 2:16 PM
No more flawed than Huntsman.
steebo77 on November 29, 2012 at 2:16 PM
Anyone beyond a few anonymous internet posters?
steebo77 on November 29, 2012 at 2:18 PM
Yeppers and who cares if half the nominees were on Fox’s payroll. Atleast they were never on Obama’s..
melle1228 on November 29, 2012 at 2:21 PM
Wow calling someone uneducated and a chickenhawk.. Right out of the left’s playbook.
melle1228 on November 29, 2012 at 2:24 PM
Being Obama’s flack for China is not a qualification by any stretch of the imagination.
Jon Huntsman was a small man with no ideas whose defining characteristic was his smug, entitled smirk.
Whatever Cain’s verbal tics and other problems (which I’d be happy to expound on), Cain was a person who worked his entire life, and started from the bottom up everywhere he went. Whatever the merits of the 9-9-9 policy, he was able to penetrate the barrier of obliviousness and get people talking about it, which is why he, unlike Dour Jon was able to actually be the frontrunner for a little while. John Huntsman in contrast was an elitist legacy politician who started in the penthouse suite yet believed he climbed there himself.
BKennedy on November 29, 2012 at 2:26 PM
This is idiotic, as all Huntsman interview/threads are.
The 10-1 tax increase question is a hoax, as many of us pointed out at the time. There is no such thing as a spending cut, of course. So anyone willing to raise taxes is only getting played by the media in an effort to hurt them in the primary.
Sad that Huntsman lacks the wits to articulate this simple point.
Jaibones on November 29, 2012 at 2:28 PM
Ahh, the man who has a Smirk that permanently mars his face.
ToddPA on November 29, 2012 at 2:30 PM
Yeah, because professional political hacks have done such a good job running the country, who would ever think a successful business man could do any better…what a arrogant schmuck.
right2bright on November 29, 2012 at 2:49 PM
Huntsman….every time I hear his name, I think of those cheap polo shirts at Target…maybe a little pointer dog, or jumping horse logo…
right2bright on November 29, 2012 at 2:50 PM
mintycrys on November 29, 2012 at 2:53 PM
You’re good. Point goes to BKennedy.
Capitalist Hog on November 29, 2012 at 2:56 PM
Twisting my words and inventing your own to supplant mine…Right out of the left’s playbook.
I never called him anything. I asked a question and offered my own suspicions. Thank you for lying though. It becomes you.
Capitalist Hog on November 29, 2012 at 3:00 PM
Wow dude. Just let it go.
At least Obama has the decency to keep his simmering bitterness about everything cleverly disguised by a constant load of BS.
somewhatconcerned on November 29, 2012 at 3:26 PM
Huntsman would have voted for Obama even if he ,Huntsman, was on the general election ticket.
BoxHead1 on November 29, 2012 at 4:20 PM