5 thoughts on “GOP Primary Candidate Venn Diagram #2: Jon Huntsman Jr.”

1. Guillaume December 22, 2011 at 10:33 am

   I am wondering why you think the liberal love for Huntsman is irrational? He’s the most moderate it seems of all of them. That seems like a good reason to like him if you’re a liberal..

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   1. Matt Post authorDecember 22, 2011 at 10:40 am

      That’s certainly a good reason to prefer him to other GOP candidates. But by the same token, it also makes him the most likely to defeat Obama, and I doubt many liberals prefer Huntsman to Obama.

      Still, that’s all an aside. The reason I was thinking of when I drew it was that liberals seem enamored with Huntsman because he’s relatively liberal compared to the other GOP candidates. But on an absolute scale, he’s quite conservative. If you asked a liberal, “What do you think of a politician who is pro-life, wants to cut taxes, wants to repeal the ACA, opposes gay marraige, worked in the Regan administration, and is the former governor of Utah?” my guess is that most would not profess very much positive about the person.

      But yet Huntsman has become the darling of the left this primary season. Just seems odd to me. That’s all.

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      1. Guillaume December 22, 2011 at 11:00 am

         I am not sure it makes most likely to defeat Obama because he’s a moderate. But I trust your opinion on this.

         Your framing of Huntsman captures his most conservative positions but if you ask a liberal, “what do you think of a politician who worked for a non-profit, supported increase in minimal wage, cap-and-trade regulations, believes in global warming, support immigration reform and worked for the Obama administration”, you will probably get a totally different answer to your question 🙂

         It’s all about hedging your bet for a lot of liberals these days.

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