Will Huntsman Finally Gain Traction in New Hampshire?

Jon Huntsman has consistently shown himself to be the least insane and less inclined to participate in gratuitous gay bashing than the other would be GOP presidential nominees. In my opinion, he's also the GOP candidate that could give Barack Obama the most competition in the general election. Unfortunately, given just how extreme the Republican Party has become, sanity, civility and competitiveness in the general election don't score high points with the Christianists and their alter ego, the Tea Party. Iowa where Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum basically tied for first place underscores this reality. Some think that New Hampshire will prove different and that perhaps belatedly Hunstman will shine and become more competitive. A piece in The Daily Beast looks at Huntsman's chances in New Hampshire. Here are highlights:

Jon Huntsman had his best debate right on time—two days before New Hampshire votes.
And Mitt Romney had his worst debate Sunday morning, finally coming under sustained and substantive fire from his competitors, as well as the debate moderator, Meet the Press host David Gregory.

Remember that New Hampshire is different from all the other primaries in this January gauntlet—it’s open to independents, who make up more than 40 percent of the state’s electorate. And its voters are some of the least religious in the nation, unlike the social conservatives who self-select in the Iowa caucus and dominate in South Carolina.

In total, the arguments that work in the Live Free or Die State translate well to a general election. And that’s why this exchange between Huntsman and Romney, about Huntsman’s service as ambassador to China under President Obama, was so illuminating.

Huntsman: “I was criticized last night by Governor Romney for putting my country first … He criticized me while he was out raising money for serving my country in China. Yes, under a Democrat. Like my two sons are doing in the United States Navy. They're not asking what political affiliation the president is. I want to be very clear with the people here in New Hampshire and this country: I will always put my country first.”

Huntsman’s invocation of his two sons serving in the military is an essential reminder of a bedrock American tradition: our servicemen and women do not make their service contingent on the political persuasion of the president. That’s because they are patriots first, not partisans. Huntsman deserved the applause he received for that line.

It’s likely too late for the kind of popular surge Huntsman would need to win New Hampshire, though the polls are tightening. He remains the only candidate—including the clown candidates—who has so far been denied a broad surge of support. And, not incidentally, he is probably the most electable of the bunch against Barack Obama.

Statements like his response to Romney about serving as ambassador to China for President Obama are the reason why: “The American people are tired of the partisan division. They have had enough. There is no trust left among the American people in the institutions of power and among the American people and our elected officials … And I say we've had enough. We have to change our direction in terms of coming together as Americans, first and foremost.”

It’s both sad and striking that such common sense stands out in the current conservative debates—that it takes some measure of courage to speak for national unity rather than just offering red meat about how the president is a secular socialist. But that’s the kind of courage a real president needs. It’s the commitment that can help unify and then lead.