Serious Man, Or Serious Candidate?

Jon Huntsman is one of only three or four Republicans who are often described by pundits as serious candidates for the party’s nomination. This mystifies me: Huntsman may be a serious man, I have no idea. But the idea that he is a serious candidate for president is ludicrous.
Tim Pawlenty has worked hard for more than a year, and still is only known to around half of all Republicans nationwide. Huntsman comes nowhere near that level of recognition. A Public Policy Polling survey that came out today shows what an uphill claim Huntsman faces:

[O]ne Iowa Republican on the poll we will release tomorrow said they would vote for Jon Huntsman if the election was today- not 1% but one respondent, period.
Here are some facts about Huntsman’s supporter:
-He is ‘not sure’ when it comes to Barack Obama’s job performance-doesn’t approve or disapprove. He reports having voted for Obama in 2008.
-Huntsman is the only potential Republican candidate he has a favorable opinion of. He expresses ‘no opinion’ about Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush, Ron Paul, Rudy Giuliani, Chris Christie, Buddy Roemer, Rick Perry, Fred Karger, Paul Ryan, and Gary Johnson. He has an unfavorable opinion of Newt Gingrich, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain, Michele Bachmann, Rick Santorum, and Donald Trump.

Huntsman may be a fine fellow, but his standing with the party’s base is zero.
Via Outside the Beltway.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses