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Subscribe to RSSJon Huntsman announced at a foreign-policy forum with Henry Kissinger in New York that he will announce his intention to run for president one week from today.
"Is anybody listening to this broadcast?" Huntsman joked, before going on to say, "Well, since we're in select company, and there aren't a lot of people listening in -- I intend to announce that I will be a candidate for the presidency a week from today."
He added, "My family looks shocked and surprised because they are; I hadn't told them yet."
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Someone's gonna get an earful when they get home. My guess is that they pretty much already knew, but still, an earful is probably in order. Ah, if this is the worst thing he does to them, he'll be alright.
I thought the same thing! lol
Is this the new 'vogue' in politics - shock value? First Bachmann & now Huntsman.
As a wife - I would be none too happy if my husband announced his decision without telling me & the family first!
That's a man who cares and respects his wify and kids........ teapublicant family value 1. You would expect him to have discuss and finalized this with his family first. Huntsman the comedian.
Earful? Is that what Weiner was trying to do - gratuitous ear shots?
Nasty.
But great point Pius. You know who else was married with a child on the way? That's right Mr. Family Values himself, Anthony Weiner.
Or do we ignore that he had a wife and child? You know a family that he so clearly ignored.
Yep, lets totally keep up with the "family Values" chit chat. Winning!
Feisty--I doubt your husband could divert your attention from the computer screen even if the house was on fire.
Now we are adding someone with real common sense to this election. I was hoping someone with a background in creating real jobs and wealth would enter the race. It's to bad he wasnt President in 2008. Obama probably would have made a good foreign Ambassador....
Ambassador Huntsman is a career politician. Where do you see a background in creating real jobs? His father created wealth as president of a company, and the son has an easy life of national service because of that wealth.
Huntsman is the son of Jon Huntsman, Sr. and Karen Haight Huntsman, and was raised in Palo Alto, California. He participated in the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) as a youth and earned the organization's highest rank, Eagle Scout, at age 15. He served as a missionary for two years in Taiwan and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in international politics.
Huntsman worked as a White House staff assistant for Ronald Reagan, and he was appointed by George H.W. Bush as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce and later as United States Ambassador to Singapore from 1992-1993. Huntsman served as Deputy United States Trade Representative under George W. Bush, launching global trade negotiations in Doha, Qatar in 2001 and guiding the accession of China and Taiwan into the World Trade Organization.
Huntsman was elected Governor of Utah in 2005 and won re-election in 2008 with nearly 78% of the vote. During his tenure, Huntsman cut taxes by more than $400 million—the largest tax cut in the state's history—and Utah was named the "Best Managed State in America" by Pew Research Center. While governor, he also served as chairman of the Western Governors Association and on the Executive Committee of the National Governors Association. On August 11, 2009, he resigned as governor to accept appointment by Barack Obama as the United States Ambassador to China.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jon_Huntsman,_Jr.
an, "easy life of national service"?
So now devoting your career to serving your country is something to be denigrated?
Kate, I work for a large private company. The Father of this outfit has instilled his work ethic on the sons who work here directly as well as those who work outside the company. It's probable Huntsman won't have the animosity towards businesses and individuals in the private sector making $250k+ that Obama has shown. We need better leadership. Huntsman is a step closer to that.....
Read the bio that dangerfield has posted. Where has Huntsman created jobs? He went to a "dreaded" ivy league school (don't many GOP members decry the "elite") and was well connected -- got right into the White House to work for Ronald Reagan (could his father have given a big donation to Reagan)? and from then on had first-rate GOP appointed positions. He never had to worry where his next meal was coming from, or how to pay back student loans. When I say an "easy life of national service," I mean that he was free to do what he wanted to do in life because he didn't have to make any hard choices. His most famous claim to fame is that he is "fluent" in Mandarin -- which I applaud, and I would hope he would encourage everyone to learn a second or third language and make sure there is enough funding for schools to offer that education. In 2009 the average per-capita income in Utah was the lowest of all 50 states.
So now devoting your career to serving your country is something to be denigrated?
Only if it's a Democratic politician, apparently, if it's a Republican, well, heh, great experience! And an Ivy league education too, marvelous!
Try Wikipedia kate:
In addition to his public service, Huntsman served as an executive for the Huntsman Corporation, the Huntsman Cancer Foundation, and CEO of Huntsman Family Holdings Company.
Huntsman, Huntsman, and Huntsman....he's a figurehead for the family businesses -- unless it's his father (Jon Huntsman, Sr). He may well be a marvelous politician, a great leader, an inspiring person....but he has not created jobs (as UAW posted at the top of the thread) and his expertise is not in the area of job creation. Clearly he will inherit the Crossroads/Rove money and will have the backing of the Bush wing of the Republican party....it will be interesting to see where it goes from here.
Yea Kate, Could you just see the look on Daddy's face if Jr. started ranting about the evils of businesses and individuals making $250k+ and said "Were gonna re-distribute the wealth"..... :) That would be a laugh....
UAW - please, please, please.....it's such an old song "redistribute the wealth". Doncha' know? It's all been redistributed already - upward to the rich. Continue to give those tax breaks, and the middle class will have nothing and we will crash - again. Tax breaks do not contribute to job creation. You guys exemplify the meaning of crazy....doing the same thing over and over and achieving the same miserable results.
You see, Huntsman watched last night's debate with his family and at one point turned to them and said---geesh (because he doesn't swear), I could beat these idiots in a New York minute. He thought they knew that meant he was definitely running.
Palin/Plumber 2012!
I for one am very happy he's going to be joining the race!! He's definitely my preferred candidate at this point and in all honesty, he's best positioned for the general election. The kicker is going to be the primary...can he win it. I'm hopeful and at this point, he'll have my vote in the primary.
Frank---do you think Huntsman will stand behind his previous statements or change to appeal to the right of his party?
Frank,
You, and a handful of Republicans in Connecticut. When are you going to realize you are a Democrat?
Frank, you have so many weird characters in the primary it will be a crapshoot. I honestly, don't think your party has the smarts to recognize any one who is normal and most certainly will not be a darling of the wacky right right. He seems to have a nice presence and for the more moderate and discerning of the party he will do well, but are there enough of them?
The man is a centrist, clearly not on the fringe.
He supports civil unions for gay couples and a cap-and-trade strategy on climate change.
He took all of the stimulus money offered to his state and was vocal in stating his appreciation
He, like Romney was a Governor and a businessman.
At least, he may be worth listening to. No Sharia law nonsense, litmus tests for Muslims, faith based legislation and financial proposals on tax cuts that boggle the mind.
Frank and Groucho are right. He's a fresh centrist voice for the repubs. If he can come out with a REASONABLE economic plan, he may have a chance in the primary. It may get interesting.
wouldn't bet on it.
Amy B. Portland, ME
wouldn't bet on it.
..................................
Amy, even before you hear his platform, his plan for the economy, etc?
I don't know if I'm going to vote for him but he is, compared to the rest of the field, a very reasonable alternative.
I am open enough to at least hear what he says before I dismiss him.
As Lisa said, give the man a chance.
Of course before she hears anything Groucho - it's Amy's way.
A mind is a terrible thing to waste.
They just cannot see or hear anything, too much Obama "juice" in their eyes and ears.
He'll never make it out of the primaries. The primary voting community will be "packed" with tea partiers and other fringe representatives.
By the way, the evangelicals won't allow a Morman to win the primaries - he'll lose the South states automatically. And here lies the problem with the Republicans and why it will be very hard to field a candidate that can actually win.
Let's face it...if Bachmann can bring in the money at the same rate as Romney - she wins the nomination on a platform of kill Healthcare and the EPA.
Things are THAT polar.
Indy Lib, We agree again. Give the man a chance he may actually have some ideas about fixing our economy. I am willing to listen.
Ah, the all-important announcement that there will be an announcement. Did Huntsman precede this with the even more important announcement that there will be an announcement that there will be an announcement? That's what Newt did. Look how much good it's done him!
Houston---you forgot about the announcement of the formation of an exploratory committee.
Oh, yeah. That's right: the announcement of the formation of the committee that will explore whether there should be an announcement that there will be an announcement that there will be an announcement of the intent to run for president of the U S of A.
I will say this about Huntsman: Like all the other GOP contenders, he criticized Obama's recent speech on the Middle East. But unlike all the others, he didn't lie about Obama wanting Israel to go back to its 1967 borders. His criticism was on the substance of what Obama actually said. With honesty like that, Huntsman hasn't got a prayer to be the Republican nominee.
When wannabe presidential candidates make a mockery of their intent to run for the highest office of the country they should be ignored imo.
Happy vote hunting Mr. johnny come lately Huntsman.
Meh...
So predictable...whoever is viewed as the least conservative of the GOP candidates, the moonbats will profess respect for his "substance" and use the candidate to attack the rest of the field as extreme...
Yawn. Wouldn't it be funny, though if the moderate conservative Huntsman did get elected, then the moonbats will turn on a dime and screech about the former Governor of Utah as an extremist.
Here's how I see it. This guy actually has a chance if he goes the moderate conservative route. Obviously most republicans are very conservative nowadays, but all of the other candidates are either extremely conservative or pretending to be. So, Say 10% of Rs are moderates and 20% are moderately conservative and 95% want to beat Obama. If a) the other extremists are fighting over the exterme and very conservative voters and he wins teh moderates and moderate conservatives and a handful of regular conservatives he's got to be near the front of the pack and b) when others see that someone in the mainstream has a better chance of winning Independents then he could get it going. The hard core would take him over OB anyhow.
I find the line 2009 Nobel Peace Prize Winner particularly ironic. Also, I love the claim that he has improved Americas' reputation in the world.
Alan
I am an retired military, and I currently work for NATO in The Hague Netherlands. I have traveled all over Europe to include parts of Asia in the past 15 years and trust me our reputation prior to Obama becoming President was pretty poor. Now, if you have done the same you can refute my opinion, but, if you haven't then take my word for it.
Pretty soon, the rich politians and rich company heads and the plain rich can round up all us poor SOB's and put us in consentration camps like they did in Germany. Then they can let us starve or burn us at the stakes for backing the democratic party. The poor people soon won't have any chance of having a normal life and all our assets will be turned into the government. This seems to be what is going to happen to mankind.