New Hampshire Republicans and undeclared voters who want to field a candidate with broad appeal and the capability and credibility to have a shot at beating President Obama have three choices: putative frontrunner Mitt Romney, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, and diplomat and two-term Utah governor Jon Huntsman. The choice of Huntsman should be clear.

With Gingrich, voters would get an unpredictable, unprincipled nominee and, should he be elected, a white-knuckle four years of an imperial presidency. With Romney, they wouldn’t know who they would get: the moderate Mitt who was once pro-choice, in favor of a health-care mandate, a supporter of the auto industry bailout and a believer that human activity was contributing to climate change – or the newly conservative Romney, who opposes abortion, claims the reason for climate change is unknown, opposes a health insurance mandate and claims that bailing out Detroit was a mistake…

We disagree with Huntsman on a host of issues, including abortion, support for civil unions over same-sex marriage, the need to repeal the landmark health care reform act, and his desire to extend the Bush tax cuts. But we found him, despite his calm demeanor, to be a proponent of bold, hard-nosed reforms that voters, no matter what their party, should consider.