The Thrill of the Huntsman

Since news broke in January that Jon Huntsman was stepping down from his post as ambassador to China, everyone knew he was running for president. His announcement today makes it official. Our highly polarized body politic will almost surely reject the moderate former Utah governor like an infection, but I posit there's reason for Democrats and Republicans to get excited about a Huntsman candidacy.

For Republicans, it's simple: Huntsman has the best chance to defeat the president.

Even with a limping economy and low approval ratings, I suspect Candidate Obama will be able to remind middle-of-the-road voters why they liked him in the first place. If he can earn back trust by sheer force of personality, the GOP needs a wild card. That's Huntsman.

Huntsman fails many a Republican litmus test. He believes in climate change, supports civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, and was the proud hire of one Barack Obama. These precise traits that hurt Huntsman among Republicans help him with the public at large. I suggested in my last blog that Pawlenty's record could hurt him in a GOP primary. Pawlenty has nothing on Huntsman here. It would require tremendous compromise on the part of your average Republican primary voter to choose a candidate like Huntsman. But when your primary goal is to beat Obama, your priorities shift.

Huntsman appeals directly to the middle roader voter. He's the perfect general election candidate, but following John McCain's defeat in 2008, Republicans won't be eager to trust nominating another moderate. As such, Huntsman might be more appealing to Democrats.

Here's why: Huntsman has the best chance to defeat the president.

Democrats would surely prefer 4 more years of Obama, but a Huntsman win could shape the future of the Republican party for decades. He could set a template for a more moderate Republican, relax the rigidity of the party and attract new members, especially young people. While such a dramatic (perhaps unrealistic) paradigm shift could spell doom for their own electoral success, life would ultimately be easier for Democrats as soon as their opponents aren't so opposing.

If the GOP fails to rally around Huntsman, or even Romney (a similar candidate in more ways than religion, which ought not be any of our business anyway), it's over for them. The longer they dote on a candidate like Bachmann, the further they distance themselves from the White House.