Recently a friend of mine posed a simple question:
“Romney or Huntsman Jr…”
This is referencing to the republican Presidential candidacy for the 2012 election in the light of recent events in the news. These events tend to lead to much speculation that John Huntsman Jr. will make a bid for the office (see article here.)
Thinking about this for only a few minutes I decided: Neither.
I would not choose either of the two, and following is my reasoning.
First off, I think an important thing to consider is the following:
Who has the better chance of winning between the two?
Romney: One thing that Romney has going for him is that he has better name recognition throughout the United States. Because of this, he has a more “Clout” outside of Utah which is a huge advantage. Also, he has a more established campaign as he has been through this before. I think that it should also be noted that when he did go through this before and lost the nomination, he conceded respectfully to John McCain unlike other competitors such as Mike Huckabee who fought to the bitter end – I think that the American People look kindly on the “Class” that Romney showed in defeat.
Mitt Romney
Huntsman Jr.: Huntsman’s biggest obstacle is that he really has not done much in the public eye (besides in Utah) and has a much bigger hill to climb in both getting the name recognition as well as getting a solid campaign infrastructure set up. He will most definitely get the vote of the more liberal Utah conservatives, but outside of Utah he will have a much tougher time proving a track record that coincides with the GOP, as all his work has been with china and really has not been publicized well (props to Obama for successfully silencing possible competition). One thing that Huntsman does have going for him is that he does have the “Fresh Face” that many commentators feel the GOP needs right now; worried that all the current major players for the party are “has-been” or washed up and don’t provide a spark that the party needs, and Huntsman could possibly provide.
John Huntsman Jr.
Ultimately between the two, I feel that the candidate who has the better chance of winning is Romney because of both his name recognition and his solid campaign infrastructure already in place.
On a side note: I really don’t think either will win, even if they ultimately would offer the best option for the overall well being of the United States. The whole LDS thing, which both will have to battle, will be too much of a roadblock for either one. Like it or not, being LDS is just not too popular in the United States – at least in a prominent position such as president.
But based on the fact of “Who has the better chance of winning between the two” alone and the evidence listed above, if you really want the Office of the President to be held by a Conservative – and if the GOP Candidate came down to these two, Romney is the one to go for.
Now that the “chance of winning” is established – On too the goods:
Who I personally think should win?
The reason I originally said “neither” is; being a conservative, I feel that neither of the two have represented my conservative ideas very well.
Romney: In 2006 Romney famously introduced a Massachusetts State Health Care Bill that is eerily similar to “Obama-Care” especially with regard to the “Individual-Mandate” and that will undoubtedly be a major obstacle he will have to face for most of his campaign (check this pretty interesting article to see more about this). Although he is a proven business man and does have a better economic “resume” than Obama ever had (which is obviously my opinion).
Huntsman Jr.: When elected as Utah Governor he took a $8.94 billion budget and grew it to $12.4 billion in the 3 1/2 years he was in office. In a society where the Budget is such an issue, someone who increased spending is NOT who we need right now (source). The obvious argument to this is that the budget will always grow and Utah is hailed as one of the better managed budgets in the union, which is true, but the growth that this represents is roughly a 38.7% increase. I feel ANY budget growth right now from the federal government is just too much. If time permits, I would also suggest that you look at this article here as it is seen that Huntsman’s budget is more of a Liberal budget and not so much of a conservative budget even though he would run on a conservative ticket.
Also, from my personal observations on his Governorship, I feel that he undermined the voice of the people and did what he wanted in spite of what the “voice” said (such as when he allocated Utah taxes to pay for a soccer stadium that the people voted they did not want their tax dollars to go to). Also, he has never completed his terms for different positions in public office – quitting the governorship to be the ambassador before his first term was over, and now quitting the ambassadorship to run for president. (will he quit president when he finds something better?) Although, same as Romney, he is a proven business man and does have a better economic “resume” than Obama ever had (once again, opinion).
So because of that, it really comes down to the fact that both have enough Liberal histories that it would be hard for me to vote for either given the current needs of our country.
But… If I did have to choose between the two, I would have to say Romney.
Reasoning: Although he has shown Liberal tenancies with his health care bill, he has never undermined the voice of the people as I have seen Huntsman do, which of all their faults, I feel that Undermining the people is the most unforgivable political taboo.
Ultimately I would like to see who else is actually running because, as of now, no one has officially declared their candidacy and if there ends up not being a better choice, then the above opinion will then actually have weight.
I am not picking who I would like to support for president until the choice is real…
With that being Said….
I am still researching this, so if you feel I have missed something or misrepresented an issue, Please let me know so I can learn and make a better educated decision; as well as keep you up to date with this.
February 2nd, 2011 - 5:45 pm
Well said. Just what I was thinking on my way to work this morning.