“I don’t know if he’s done the right job branding himself. He’s moderate in tone, but I think on other issues it’s more a discussion around proper role of government and states rights, which are conservative issues,” said Utah-based consultant Greg Hartley, who served as Huntsman’s deputy political director…

Ana Navarro, who served as Huntsman’s top Hispanic liaison in 2012, didn’t even attempt to sugarcoat her brutal assessment of his 2016 viability.

“I don’t know anybody who isn’t a mental patient currently under treatment for hallucinations or who should be under such treatment, that seriously believes Huntsman would be a viable candidate for the Republican nomination,” she said. “Jon would get a fraction of the support he got in 2012, which means it would be invisible to the naked eye without the aid of a microscope.”

Even if Huntsman benefits from an evolving Republican Party seeking a bigger tent and has heeded the tactical lessons of his first run, one factor not on his side is time.

With a stable of new faces already barnstorming the country and cultivating high-dollar donors, Huntsman’s window is shorter than others.