RSS

Tag Archives: Jon Huntsman

And then there were five

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman is dropping out of the 2012 campaign circus and will be – no big surprise – endorsing Willard Mittens Romney, bringing dozens of new supporters to Romney.

Reportedly Huntsman will endorse Mittens because he believes Romney is the best candidate to beat President Barack Obama in November (and he’s the only person still running who isn’t a lunatic or adulterer). Campaign manager Matt David said Huntsman will announce his withdrawal at an event in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Huntsman was virtually invisible throughout the race, being pummeled in the Iowa caucuses and placing a distant third in New Hampshire, and his chances of winning South Carolina were not looking particularly good; of course if Huntsman had bothered to ask any “normal” American – meaning anyone who isn’t an uber-conservative rich white guy – then he’d have known there wasn’t a snow ball’s chance of him ever winning the GOTP nomination much less the Presidency – c’mon when you’re more bland than milk toast how can you win in today’s media charged world?

That said however, now the debates will no longer have any sense of “normalcy”, it’s full throttled Looney Tunes from here on out.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on January 16, 2012 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , ,

GOTP Christmas Special airing in 2012

As Christmas, and the first primaries and caucuses, approach it’s appropriate to wonder where this year’s crop of Crazy Eight Republican Tea Party (GOTP) candidates will be next Christmas, well wonder no more, famed stop motion animators Rankin/Bass have announced a brand new special, “The GOTP Island of Misfit Candidate”, and they’ve released their ideal cast of characters:

Mittens “in the box” Romney; he’s never garnered more than 25% of Republicans polled, thus it would appear few Republicans want to play with him

Michelle “Dolly” Bachmann; the Dolly for Sue’s misfit problem was revealed on NPR’s Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me! News quiz show (broadcast 8 Dec 07). The show revealed that Rudolph’s producer, Arthur Rankin Jr., says Dolly’s problem was psychological, caused from being abandoned by her mistress and suffering depression from feeling unloved. Wow, is that type casting or what?

Newton “the spotted elephant” Gingrich; if you’ve seen the original Rudolph you’ve seen how that white polka-dotted elephant looks, who else but Newton could play him? Besides Newton is the one GOTP nominee who’d love to change some of his spots.

Jon “train with square wheels” Huntsman; a square wheeled train would never get any traction, just like his campaign.

Rick “the cowboy riding an ostrich” Perry; Reverend Ricky is strange enough to actually try this if he thought he’d win the nomination.

Herman “toy boat that sinks” Cain; the boat couldn’t float, and the Pizza Man’s campaign is sinking faster than the Titanic

Rick “water pistol that shoots jelly” Santorum; you look at water pistol and it seems an OK toy, but then it squirts jelly; you look at Ricky and he appears presidential, but then he opens his mouth and you discover you’re wrong.

Ron “bird fish” Paul; he appears so often to be able to spread his wings and fly, but then he jumps off into the air and lands in the deep end of the pool.

Look for this new Christmas classic in December 2012.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on November 23, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , ,

What the debates show us the GOTP stands for?

Watching two so-called Republican Tea Party (GOTP) debates, I finally started to figure out a lot of what these dim witted presidential wannabe candidates – and the not so bright masses following them – stand for:

They stand for ENDING SOCIAL SECURITY as we know it – The Reverend Ricky Perry has said, “[I]t is a monstrous lie. It is a Ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today; you’re paying into a program that’s going to be there. Anybody that’s for the status quo with Social Security today is involved with a monstrous lie to our kids, and it’s not right.

“You cannot keep the status quo in place and not call it anything other than a Ponzi scheme. It is. … [T]hat’s provocative language — maybe it’s time to have some provocative language in this country.”

Michele “Krazy” Bachmann weighed in, “… this isn’t going to work anymore. We have to be an ownership society, where individual responsibility, personal responsibility once again becomes the animating American principle. And we can’t be ashamed of that.”

They stand for ENDING HEALTHCARE to MILLIONS of AMERICANS – Jon Huntsman said, “We cannot go forward with Obamacare.”

Krazy said, “Repeal Obamacare.”

“… We have to have someone who is absolutely committed to the repeal of Obamacare and I am. I won’t rest until it’s repealed.”

“And this is why I’m running for the presidency of the United States, because 2012 is it. This is the election that’s going to decide if we have socialized medicine in this country or not. This is it.

“Why? I just have to say this. It’s because President Obama embedded $105,464,000,000 in Obamacare in post-dated checks to implement this bill. We are never going to get rid of it unless we have a president committed to getting rid of it. And if you believe that states can have it and that it’s constitutional, you’re not committed. If you’ve implemented this in your state, you’re not committed. I’m committed to repealing Obamacare.”

Herman “Pizza Man” Cain, “Repeal Obamacare in its entirety.”

Mittens Romney said, “And with regards to Massachusetts care, I’m not running for governor. I’m running for president. And if I’m president, on day one I’ll direct the secretary of Health and Human Services to grant a waiver from Obamacare to all 50 states.

“It’s a problem that’s bad law, it’s not constitutional. I’ll get rid of it.”

They stand for MAKING THE RICH RICHER (at everyone else’s expense) – Ricky Santorum said, “My plan takes the corporate tax, which is 35 percent, cuts it to zero, and says, if you manufacture in America, you aren’t going to pay any taxes.”

Jon Huntsman said, “On the corporate side, I think we recognize the reality that a whole lot of companies can afford to have lobbyists and lawyers on Capitol Hill working their magic. Let’s recognize the reality that they’re all paying 35 percent. We need to lower that to 25 percent. So let’s phase out the corporate subsidies and clean out the cobwebs and leave it more competitive for the 21st century.”

On the idea of a fair tax, basically a national sales tax, Mittens said, “Yeah. Yeah. The — the idea of a national sales tax or a consumption tax has a lot to go for it. One, it would make us more competitive globally, as we send products around the world, because under the provisions of the World Trade Organization, you can reimburse that to an exporter. We can’t reimburse our taxes right now. It also would level the playing field in the country, making sure everybody is paying some part of their fair share.

“And so my plan is to take the middle class individuals and dramatically reduce their taxes by the following measure. And that is for middle income Americans, no tax on interest, dividends or capital gains. Let people save their money as the way they think is best for them, for their kids, for their future, for their retirement. We’re taxing too much, we’re spending too much and middle income Americans need a break and I’ll give it to them.”

There’s just one big problem with Mitten’s idea, a flat national sales tax is lopsided sharply against the middle class and especially the poor. Everyone doesn’t pay their fair share, the rich don’t even come close. It’s a greedy tax being pushed by a greedy group of politicians. Oh, and by-the-by how many middle class Americans pay a lot of tax on interest, dividends and capital gains? That’s all designed to help the wealthiest among us not the middle class.

They (Tea Party Members) stand for DEATH – during the debate last week the loudest cheers of the night came as the moderator brought up the total number of people (234 was the number given) executed under Reverend Ricky Perry’s regime in Texas. And last night people began cheering when Wolf Blitzer asked, “What do you tell a guy who is sick, goes into a coma and doesn’t have health insurance? Who pays for his coverage? Are you saying society should just let him die?”

“Yeah!” several members of the crowd yelled out.

If nothing else demonstrates the reality of the Tea Party being the great unwashed mass, nothing will. They are a blood thirsty group who want people who – in their view – are not productive to die or to be killed. Hey if that fella got cancer, or slipped into a coma and had no health insurance, well, he had better die and decrease the surplus population.

They are for CUTTING EDUCATION and CUTTING PROTECTIONS – Congressman Ron Paul said to loud applause, “What we need to do is cut the Department of Education, the Department of Energy, and all these departments, and get rid of them.”

They stand for RACISM – during the CNN/Tea Party debate last night, Ricky Santorum said, “Well, I mean, what Governor Perry’s done is he provided in-state tuition for — for illegal immigrants. Maybe that was an attempt to attract the illegal vote — I mean the Latino voters.”

Yeah because basically they’re one and the same? Are you kidding me?

Ricky continued, “But you track Latino voters by talking about the importance of immigration in this country. You talk about the importance of — as — as Newt has talked about for many years, having English as the — as the official language of this country.”

He’s basically talking about the little brown people out there, you know, the ones who didn’t come through Ellis Island, the kind who lived in the southwest before we conquered it. The one’s who the GOTP wants to sweep up in a net and deport, or just lock away in prisons; after all they are here illegally.

And of course, not to be out done, “Krazy” chimed in, “And I think that the American way is not to give taxpayer subsidized benefits to people who have broken our laws or who are here in the United States illegally. That is not the American way. Because the immigration system in the United States worked very, very well up until the mid-1960s when liberal members of Congress changed the immigration laws.

“What works is to have people come into the United States with a little bit of money in their pocket legally with sponsors so that if anything happens to them, they don’t fall back on the taxpayers to take care of them. And then they also have to agree to learn the speak the English language, learn American history and our constitution. That’s the American way.”

Yep, the good old white uber-conservative American way. Perhaps Bachmann should learn American history before she expects immigrants to do so; where’s Lexington and Concord Congresswoman?

As Ron Paul tried to explain (correctly) why the United States was attacked on 9-11 he said, “This whole idea that the whole Muslim world is responsible for this, and they’re attacking us because we’re free and prosperous, that is just not true.

“Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda have been explicit — they have been explicit, and they wrote and said that we attacked America because you had bases on our holy land in Saudi Arabia, you do not give Palestinians fair treatment, and you have been bombing …”

The Tea Party crowd showed its collective ignorance when it started booing …and that’s the crux of the issue right now, the Republican Party of Ronald Reagan has become the Republican Tea Party of today, and in a political world where perception is reality, the reality is the GOTP is full of hate, anger and malice. They don’t care about anyone but wealthy white Christian America. The perception is the Tea Party wants to take America back to a time when whites ruled and no one else did; they want the poor to serve them, and the sick and the elderly to hurry up and die already. They are not the party of Ronald Reagan.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on September 13, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

Huntsman’s Crazy?

Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman is quoted by the Associated Press (AP) as saying his fellow GOTP presidential candidate’s criticism of climate change skepticism is “not a winning formula” for the GOTP in 2012, and that his opponents in the presidential primary are dead wrong in their willingness to let the US default on its debt.

ABC’s This Week on Sunday, Jake Tapper asked Huntsman about his shots at the Reverend Ricky Perry’s contention that evolution is “a theory that’s out there,” but not a sure thing, nor is the idea of climate change. After Perry had made his remarks, Huntsman reportedly tweeted, “To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.”

Tapper asked, “Were you just being cheeky or do you think there’s a serious problem with what Governor Perry said?” Huntsman’s response: “I think there’s a serious problem. The minute that the Republican Party becomes the party – the anti-science party, we have a huge problem. We lose a whole lot of people who would otherwise allow us to win the election in 2012.”

But Huntsman is the lone voice of reason calling out against the far-right lunatic Christian fringe of the party which has taken control, and his comments are absolutely on target; the GOTP does have a huge problem, and becoming the party that dismisses science as wrong while embracing evangelical Christianity’s teachings as absolute simply makes a lot of Americans nervous, and seriously blurs the line between the separation of Church and State.

Huntsman further said, “When we take a position that isn’t willing to embrace evolution, when we take a position that basically runs counter to what 98 of 100 climate scientists have said, what the National Academy of Science – Sciences has said about what is causing climate change and man’s contribution to it, I think we find ourselves on the wrong side of science, and, therefore, in a losing position….I can’t remember a time in our history where we actually were willing to shun science and become a – a party that – that was antithetical to science. I’m not sure that’s good for our future and it’s not a winning formula.”

When describing the GOTP presidential field’s indifference toward the prospect of default and their ability to handle the economy he was less complimentary, “Well, I wouldn’t necessarily trust any of my opponents right now, who were on a recent debate stage with me, when every single one of them would have allowed this country to default. You can imagine, even given the uncertainty of the marketplace the last several days and even the last couple of weeks, if we had defaulted the first time in the history of the greatest country that ever was, being 25 percent of the world’s GDP and having the largest financial services sector in this world by a long shot, if we had defaulted, Jake, this marketplace would be in absolute turmoil. And people who are already losing enough as it is on their 401(k) s and retirement programs and home valuations, it would have been catastrophic.”

Huntsman is an old-time Republican, a Reagan style Republican running for the nomination of a party that wouldn’t nominate the Gipper if he were alive today. He isn’t the pandering fool his opponents are, and unfortunately, while it makes him an honest guy, it will undoubtedly cost him any hopes of winning the nomination.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on August 21, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , ,

Huntsman Attacks Other GOTP Candidates?

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is going on the attack against the other GOTP candidates saying the U.S. is a “center-right” country politically and the public is “crying out for a sensible middle ground”.

Huntsman – who has no chance of being the GOTP nominee – says his Republican rivals as well as President Barack Obama are on the political “fringes.” Huntsman says Obama is too liberal and there are Republican candidates who are too far to the right and have “zero substance.”

Huntsman let loose with his sharpest barbs at Reverend Ricky Perry and Michele “Krazy” Bachmann.

Huntsman said Ricky was wrong for expressing skepticism about manmade global warming and for criticizing the nation’s central banker. “I think when you find yourself at an extreme end of the Republican Party, you make yourself unelectable,” he said in interview, on ABC’s “This Week.”

Huntsman also attacked Krazy’s ridiculous claims she could bring gasoline prices below $2 if elected president. “I just don’t know what world that comment would come from. … That is completely unrealistic. And, again, it’s talking about things that, you know, may pander to a particular group or sound good at the time, but it just simply is not founded in reality.”

You go Jon! Wow, a GOTP candidate who has to tell the truth about his opponents in order to get press time, and isn’t afraid to say he’s a moderate – of course in the Tea Partista reality that is today’s GOTP that’s as good as the political kiss of death.

Huntsman continues to speak optimistically about his chances in 2012 in spite of lagging poll numbers, “I’m confident we’re getting there. But I’m even more confident that the message that we bring to this race, that of a center-right message for a center-right country that is looking for common-sense solutions and a leader who’s actually been there and done that in the marketplace and can apply those same principles now to a nation that so desperately needs it.”

Of course saying your optimistic about a campaign that so far is polling no better than 1 or 2 % may be equated to the Captain of the Titanic saying there was still a good chance of making into New York after hitting the ice berg; of course it’s possible – I suppose – for the front runners to all eventually appear too conservative – even to Republicans – and Huntsman could squeak it out – well not really, but we’ll give Huntsman the optimistic edge for now.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on August 21, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , ,

Huntsman’s lagging because of dog days?

The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is blaming his slow start on “the dog days of summer,” claiming he’ll do better when the election season hits high gear.

Except for the fact he’s dead last in almost every poll, finishing several points behind a former pizza company executive, everything’s fine. You can almost hear the GOTP hopeful saying, “We’ve got them right where we want them.”

When asked about his dismal polling numbers, Huntsman replied, “If the election were next month, I guess that would be a cause for concern.”

Someone on his campaign needs to step up and say, “No governor, its cause for concern right now.” Huntsman isn’t just last he’s dead last in every poll garnering around 2% of those asked if they’d vote for him.

Huntsman reportedly told CBS’s “The Early Show” that “it’s going to take a little while” to hone his message of “moving this country to a position of competitiveness and job creation.” He said “we’ve got a terrific presence in the early states” and said that he expects an even stronger organization on the ground by this fall.

By early states he’s referring to Iowa, or maybe New Hampshire? I’m sorry to burst his bubble but in New Hampshire polling only Newt is doing worse than Huntsman is; and in Iowa he’s not even registering, as in he has a 0%; so much for “early states”.

Point is the governor stinks. No one is going to vote for him. Partly because he’s a Mormon, and the right-wing uber-conservative Christian nut jobs in the Tea Party aren’t going to nominate a Mormon; and partly because paint drying is more enthusiastic than John Huntsman. Road kill has more people looking at than John Huntsman. More people watch reruns of Hee Haw than attend Huntsman events. Maybe his angle is to garner enough followers to place him in the running for the VP nod? It could happen; maybe whoever wins the nomination will need a boring VP choice? Maybe Romney will chose him as his junior companion (VP) and they can run with the motto they’re “On a ‘Mission’ to take back America”?

 
1 Comment

Posted by on July 27, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , ,

GOTP candidates blow off Hispanics

According to the Huffington Post, Republican Tea Party (GOTP) presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Michele Bachmann, Tim Pawlenty, Newt Gingrich and Jon Huntsman were all invited to attend and address the annual conference of National Council of La Raza, the largest Latino organization in the nation.

All five GOTP candidates chose not attend. Wow, really? Conservatives chose to blow off the largest Hispanic organization in the country?

“To me, that sets a signal that we’re not a priority,” said National Council of La Raza President Janet Murguia. “And quite frankly, when you look at the actions that have been occurring by the leaders of the Republican Party, it is, I think, alarming for us in the Latino community.”

Point is, it’s about race and Hispanics are the wrong race. Prove me wrong. Oh wait, you can’t. Conservative presidential candidates won’t attend La Raza because they’re afraid voters on the right will be put off. They’re afraid uber-conservative voters will see attending the conference as being weak on illegal immigration. That’s why. They – the uber-conservatives – don’t like Hispanics, to some they should all go home, even though many more of them have lived here a lot longer than the Palins, Romneys, Bachmanns, Pawlentys, Gingrichs, Perrys and Huntsmans.

The smart thing would have been for Jon Huntsman, who doesn’t stand a snowball’s chance of winning the GOTP nomination, to accept the invitation and to attend and speak and come across as the smart new Republican. Someone on his staff should have said, “Governor, this will make you look good; you’ll be the only conservative there, and you’ll be the only Mormon candidate there. It’s a political coup.” But, unfortunately there appear to be no smart staffers working for the candidates just frightened little children cowering from the shadow of the big bad Tea Party.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 25, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Latest 2012 Presidential Polls (21 Jul 11 edition)

Here’s the latest information on this week’s polling on the 2012 Presidential election.

First – from a Public Policy Polling poll conducted from 14 – 17 July 2011 – let’s look at who would be the Republican/Tea Party (GOTP) nominee if it all ended today:

Romney 20; Bachmann 16; Palin 12; Perry 11; Cain 10; Paul 9; Gingrich 6; Santorum 3 and Pawlenty and Huntsman both bringing up the rear of the pack with a whopping 2%

Romney (aka Flopsy Mopsy) is narrowly holding on to his lead, while Bachmann (aka Krazy) is steadily moving up still followed by the two candidates who haven’t announced they’re running, Palin (aka the Ice Queen), and Perry (Pres of the 2nd Republic of Texas). Bringing up the rear are Herman Cain (aka the Pizza Man, who has never met a Muslim he hasn’t disliked) followed by Paul, Gingrich, Pawlenty, Huntsman and Santorum.

Still wondering how long the guys in the back are going continue deluding themselves that they’re viable candidates? One would think you’d actually do some polling before you jumped into the ring, but I guess not.

With the first major GOTP contest being the Iowa Caucus; if it was held today (according to Mason-Dixon polling: Krazy 32; Flopsy 29; and the rest of pack are still running only in single digits so far back it doesn’t really matter.

So, how does the GOTP pack stack up against President Obama?

If the election was held today, according to NBC/WSJ (which only asked about Bachmann and Romney) and previous polls for the others:

President Obama 48/Romney 41

President Obama 50/Bachmann 35

President Obama 48/Pawlenty 39

President Obama 52/Gingrich 39

President Obama 53/Palin 37

President Obama 48/Cain 36

President Obama 54/Paul 36

President Obama 52/Huntsman 34

If the GOTP nomination circus – and the general election – had both ended this week Flopsy would be the GOTP candidate, and he would still have lost to the President.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on July 21, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Hatch to be overthrown by Utah Tea Party?

Six-term Republican (GOP) Senator Orrin G. Hatch of Utah is facing re-election next year, a usually not to difficult task, however, in recent months the political phenomenon known as the Tea Party movement has turned what used to be a cake walk into a very steep uphill battle.

Groups such as Save the American Republic (STAR) and Utah Rising are not falling in line behind Hatch, and many other Tea Party (TP) groups are also not so sure if they will throw their support behind him.

But Hatch isn’t the only Republican possibly fighting for his political life in Utah, two other Republicans closely associated with Utah, Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, and Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the former governor of Utah, both possible presidential candidates are also facing the chopping block because as far as TP members are concerned they’re simply not conservative enough.

“We oppose all three,” said David Kirkham, a businessman who helped found one of Utah’s first Tea Party groups in a recent New York Times interview.

Romney’s biggest obstacle to overcome is his leadership – as governor – in passing the Massachusetts health care overhaul that is anathema to many Tea Party members who see it as a model for the Obama plan passed last year.

Huntsman’s on the “list” for nonsupport because he played the “moderate” on many social issues as Utah’s governor and he also supported carbon emissions cap-and-trade legislation to reduce heat-trapping gases. Of the two, the latter is the larger sin in the TPs estimation.

“On a good day, he’s a socialist,” said Darcy Van Orden, a co-founder of Utah Rising, a clearinghouse group, referring to Mr. Huntsman also in the NY Times. “On a bad day, he’s a communist.”

Really, Jon Huntsman a socialist, or a communist? It’s laughable to think anyone would ever place those nomenclatures on the former governor, which simply highlights how far to the right edge of the political spectrum some of these TP nuts are.

As for Senator Hatch, Mr. Kirkham said in the NY Times, “We have exactly the same game plan as we did last time with Bennett.”

Meaning former Senator Bob Bennett, a Republican whose long political career was unceremoniously ended in 2010 when Kirkham and other TP-inspired delegates swept into control at the party’s state convention, where in short order the TP delegates denied Bennett’s re-nomination, and in his place put Mike Lee, a former clerk for Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. of the Supreme Court, who – not surprisingly – handily won the general election.

For the coming 2012 elections it is indeed looking grim for the GOP in Utah, the monster all the Republicans thought was controllable, the one they thought they could politically potty train, is messing all over their carpet, and no amount of rolled up news paper is going to change that.

 
1 Comment

Posted by on March 15, 2011 in 2012 Election

 

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,