Huntsman on MTP: Don’t Confuse a Moderate Tone With a Moderate Record
- Posted on November 6, 2011 at 4:26pm by
Christopher Santarelli
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Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman took his interview Sunday on “Meet the Press” as an opportunity to make his voting record, and stance on the real issues, clear to voters. After taking time on the national broadcast to read a fake quote from the satirical The Onion, host David Gregory asked the former Utah governor if he considered himself a moderate. Huntsman responded that the American people should not “confuse a moderate attitude with a moderate record. ”
Dispelling the perception that he is a moderate rather than conservative Republican, Huntsman pointed to his electoral record in the very conservative state of Utah, pro-growth policies instilled while governor, pro-life voting record in regards to abortion, and life-long support of the Second Amendment.
Continuing to present opportunities for Huntsman to distance himself from his party, Gregory referenced the former Utah governor’s introduction speech for Vice Presidential Candidate Sarah Palin in 2008. During the speech Huntsman said “We are looking for Sarah!” After playing the clip, Gregory asked if Huntsman considered himself a “Sarah Palin Republican.” Huntsman responded:
“I was asked to introduce her and nominate her because I think I was about the only person who actually knew her after John McCain had picked her as a running mate. I was chair of the Western Governor’s Association, I’d worked to a limited extent with Sarah Palin, so when you’re looking for somebody who can actually go up and nominate her, I was asked to do it and I did as told.”
Huntsman continued that while he was not aware of Palin’s current stances on foreign policy and tax policy, he still believed that she would have made a suitable vice president and assumes that they were in line with “principles of conservative governance.”
When asked about the sexual harassment controversy surrounding his campaign rival Herman Cain, Huntsman said that Cain should disclose all information about the allegations so that the campaign can “move on to real issues.”
“This is taking all the bandwidth out of the discussion,” he said. “So we’re not able to talk about jobs. We’re not able to talk about our position in the world. That hurts the American people.”
Huntsman said otherwise of the Georgia businessman, that he is a very decent man and good candidate.
When asked about fellow candidate Mitt Romney and his “flip-flop” record, Huntsman said that “what the American people want today more than anything else is a level of consistency, a level of trust.” When asked about the Mormon faith that both Romney and Huntsman share, the former Utah Governor said that a member of the Church of Later Day Saints will “of course” be President at some point, but the concern is a nonsense issue.
“There is no bandwidth left in our p0litical discussion to focus any of our effort or time on religion.”
That said, Huntsman believes that Romney has “electability issues” in the general election, but would still support him against Obama.
Huntsman insisted that he did not flip-flop in regards to health care, and put in place a market based healthcare reform package in Utah without mandates. When asked if he believed the 2009 economic stimulus was too small, Huntsman said “we’re not going to bail out banks anymore in this country,” and quantitiative easing in this country has proven not to work. Huntsman said that he was disappointed the stimulus did not “go more in the way of business tax cuts.”
Jon Huntsman‘s full interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday:
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Comments (72)
babylonvi
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 7:48pmA globalist Neocon by any other name…….is still a Globalist Neocon. Right, he is so conservative, Obama picked him to be his ambassador to China. OR just maybe, he picked him because his Globalist masters TOLD him to pick Huntsman. Romney, Perry, Cain, Huntsman, Santorum and Newt are the same person politically the same. Though I don’t like his foreign policy, Ron Paul is the only one different from the rest.
Report Post »southernORcobra
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 8:28pmdo you need your software updated Paulbot?
Report Post »toto
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 8:37pmOnce a slimball always a slimball.
Report Post »jzs
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 10:27pmOMG, an intelligent man seeking the Republican nomination. He doesn’t have a chance! He believes in global warming and evolution. That’s a deal killer. Sorry Huntsman, this country isn’t about to elect a smarty pants educated person who believes in science. The Republican party wants stupid. Sorry, idiot.
Report Post »Cosmos102
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 10:57pm@JZ That old warn out line used by Democrats ad nauseum doesn’t work anymore. If you want to find stupid, look at Obama’s record. Otherwise, stop proving the inadequacy of your own intelligence.
Report Post »AhLeahIris
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 11:12pmModerate Tone? What moderate tone? This guy is a leftist, progressive, statist tool. He’s only in the race to make Romney look less liberal.
Report Post »MrldPatriot
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 11:13pmVery well said!
Report Post »Bible Quotin' Science Fearin' Conservative American
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 11:21pmWhy don’t you guys have a clue about how to attract independents? You’re going to have to run someone more moderate in order to win. Yet you shun anyone who isn’t a hard right dumb a55.
Report Post »smokeysmoke
Posted on November 7, 2011 at 10:34amHuntsman said…. ALL THE OTHER REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES WANTED TO JUST LET THE ECONOMY DEFAULT AND CRASH…. WHAT ARE YOU AN MSNBC REPORTER… you cannot even tell people the TRUTH about what the default actually ment…. it was forced cuts in discresionary spending… not a collapse of the economy MORON… I WILL NEVER EVEN WASTE MY TIME WATCHING YOU SPEAK AGAIN IF ALL YOU DO IS ATTACK YOUR OTHER CANDIDATES, BY SAYING ALL OF THEM JUST WANTEED TO LET US CRASH… II KNOW YOU ARE ON MEET THE PRESS… BUT HOW DUMB ARE YOU…. ARE YOU ON THE DEMS SIDE THAT… WE SHOULD HAVE JUST GIVEN THEM A BLANK CHECK, RAISED THE DEBT LIMIT TO WHAT EVER THE DEMS WANT… DIDENT OBAMA SPEND 30% OF THE DEBT LIMIT INCREASE IN 2 DAYS…??? SO WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM WITH WHAT THE REPUBLIXCANS DID? huntsman… you cannot say you were the only republican who did not want to defualt…. IT MAKES YOU LOOK DUMB AND YOU WILL NEVER GET THE NOMINATION THAT WAY
Report Post »Clive
Posted on November 7, 2011 at 2:59pm@Cosmos102….
i’m a conservative, and i sort of agree with JZS. all the candidates kind of suck. we need one that can beat obama. herman cain couldn’t beat anyone. if you think southerners are going to turn out in large numbers to elect herman cain, you are high. while i love my far right brothers, their opinion doesn’t mean much. moderate republicans, and independents, are the ones that have to defeat obama. thats why they will choose mitt romney, the wet noodle.
so a moderate candidate is what you are going to get, and its either that, or obama, your choice.
Report Post »jmgair
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 7:47pmWhat is MSDNC doing interviewing a guy who nobody in the GOP knows and has ZERO chance at being elected to anything ?? Huntsman needs to go back to Utah and fill the shoes of Warren Jeffs that are now empty and waiting for johns feet.
Report Post »knighttemplar999
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 9:09pmThat’s funny!
Report Post »yougottabekidding
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 10:08pmMaybe they should get a real Republican over at msnbc to interview him! Like Megan McCain now that would bring out the real truth!
Report Post »Wasn’t her father some thing?
tangonine
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 7:39pmYeah, mr. global warming.
Dude’s an idiot/nutjob non-thinker.
Report Post »ddg7
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 7:27pmRino!!!!!!!!
Report Post »MachIV
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:54pmThe only reason Huntsman is a “Republican” is because it’s extremely difficult to get elected to a statewide office in Utah as a Democrat.
Report Post »restorehope
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 7:18pmI don’t consider him a Republican at all. Anyone who was admired enough by Obama to be offered an ambassadorship makes me very uneasy. Looks like he’s a fence-sitter to jumps to whatever side offers him the best deal.
His sense of honor is suspect as well. He literally threw Palin under the bus by saying that he introduced her at the 2008 convention only because he was asked to. What a cowardly way to distance himself from a fellow conservative. Hunstman is a chameleon who at this point in time finds it convenient to call himself a Republican.
Report Post »slr4528
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 7:42pmHuntsman is just like Perry in the fact that they governed Republican states and moved the states Left whereas Romney governed the most liberal state in the country and moved it Right.
Report Post »Hickory
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:43pmI’m tired of listening to Republicrats. Bush and McCain did a job on us. We don’t need another one.
Report Post »OlefromMN
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:41pmHuntsman is still in the race? Color me surprised.
Report Post »tangonine
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 7:41pmHe’s not. Not really. But he’s spending the $$ of the idiots that support him like it’s going out of style.
Report Post »sbenard
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:40pmI’m not a Republican. I’m a conservative. Huntsman was my governor. I didn’t vote for him.
That said, he is NO liberal. He is definitely right of center, but not what I consider to be a consistent conservative. He stunned Utah by making PSA ads with Schwarzenegger in favor of a global warming agenda and regulation. He was in favor of gay marriage. In nearly all other areas, he was conservative. That’s his record.
And I still won’t vote for him!
Report Post »9635kari
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 7:02pmI do hope you will vote for him if he is our candidate. I hope that is a small chance.
Report Post »TRONINTHEMORNING
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:37pmHuntsman is just an annoyance to real conservatives. Call it a day, ego-man. We do not wish to secure your services, thank you.
Report Post »Damn_Lucky
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:32pmI‘m sorry that dog can’t hunt!
Report Post »hi
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:19pmTitle should be “Don’t confuse a moderate with a liberal.’
Report Post »Damn_Lucky
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:34pmAgreed.
Report Post »hi
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:19pmTitle should be “Don’t confuse a moderate record with a liberal record.’
Report Post »rdk
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:56pmI can’t figure out why he attacks Mitt Romney so much. His attacks seem divisive and derisive. I would think he would know better.
Report Post »Founding Father2
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:47pmSorry Huntsman you are no Conservative. And you are more of a flip flopper than Romney is, you play both sides like Ron Paul.
One thing that was great this week was Romney’s policy speech, he hit it out of the park on spending and funding liberal programs by borrowing from China: http://www.thedailycandidate.com/video/2011/nov/romney_afp_event.html
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:31pmlaff @ “playing both sides”. that is rich. So, it’s wrong to play the side of The Constitution, Rule of Law (The Republic), Free Market Capitalism and The People… that is too much for you because it appeals to “both sides”… or… “Real Americans” as we call them?
Do you, really, know who Ron Paul doesn’t appeal to? Progressives, Neocons, Lobbyists, Globalists, The UN, NATO, The Federal Reserve, The IRS or any other NWO control freak wannabe.
I gotta know,
Report Post »what exactly are YOU for? and why wouldn’t someone on “the other side” like it? and if they do like it, then, aren’t you, also, appealing to “both sides”?
sweetconcern
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 11:52pmIn defense of Dr. Ron Paul please listen to thttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjrbX2SVuvU
his:
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:36pmDavid Gregory is a disgraceful phony who, after spending the first part of his show pounding away at Cain, notwithstanding the fact that his accuser of harassment hasn’t come forward, is unknown and has not divulged any facts about what supposedly occurred, lobs soft-balls at progressive Jon Huntsman as if he’s doing his job. Both of those guys, Huntsman and Gregory are pathetically transparent. Gregory, NBC in particular and major media in general know damn well that Herman Cain will wipe the floor with Obama, so Cain gets both barrels. Huntsman on the other hand, along with Romney, is beatable by the President, so Gregory almost “services” the guy on national TV. Tim Russet, although a liberal himself, NEVER WOULD HAVE DONE THAT!
Report Post »Thevoice
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:36pmEvery thing is so complicated and complex..blah blah blah ..You know only the smartest man alive me Jon Huntsman could possibly understand. blah blah blah PLEASE STOP IT ALREADY..Sorry we need a blood and guts guy now who isn’t afraid to turn over the dam wagon kick some a$$ and take some names. And Jon it’s not complicated ..Because leadership is about doing what you in your heat know is right. Not worrying if it’s too extreme ..O…My god I might upset a Obama occupy encampment dweller…
Report Post »Tri-ox
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:25pmFormer obama employee, Jon Huntsman, would like everyone to ignore his liberal record. Huntsman is an obama functionary, not a viable GOP candidate for POTUS.
Report Post »db321
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:35pmYes, but CNN, and MSNBC have already picked Huntsman for us – they know whats best.
Report Post »phillipwgirard
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:09pmLeft wing plant
Report Post »slr4528
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 7:45pmI think Huntsman is the type to run as a third party candidate to give Obama the election. Huntsmen’s daddy is worth billions.
Report Post »RightPolitically
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:22pmLike Romney, Huntsman is just to slick for my taste. Besides, neither one of them have what it takes to put this country back together after seventy plus years of socialist/progressive “creep.”
Report Post »Turin
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:22pmGo away RINO! Just GO AWAY! … and take McLame and Grahamnesty with you.
Report Post »JMorcan
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:12pmDespite all his time in China, and having seen first hand the contrast to America’s financial collapse, Huntsman still hasn’t produced a rational formula to fix our economy.
Report Post »ZaphodsPlanet
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:10pmWhen will this troll figure out he has about the same chance as a snowball in hell.
Could a man be any more …. limp.
Report Post »David Foxfire
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:05pmCain’s not taking all of the bandwidth away, it‘s his detractors railing on about how much of a ’pervert’ he is. They would’ve vomited out their attacks whether Cain actually discloses or not. You didn’t hear much of a peep of them as all those gals get paraded for Clinton, do you?
Report Post »garyM
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 4:33pmWe can recognize a RINO Huntsman, get out and save your money!
Report Post »V-MAN MACE
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 4:41pmModerate = RINO
The Republican Party is no longer “republican”. They have become the Neoconservative Party.
Ron Paul is the only one who accurately represents Republican values.
Neocon = Liberal. That‘s why you see Liberal Obama continuing Neocon Bush’s Preemptive War strategy under the guise of Humanitarian Aid, a silent Antiwar Left, and a vocal Pro-Warmongering right.
Ron Paul 2012
Report Post »yougottabekidding
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 4:52pmHe is not even a rino. He was one of Hussein’s people and he still is, he’s there as a spoiler only.
Report Post »If God forbid the U.S.A. does not want to become the U.S.S.A., and reelect our world joke he would again be in the cabinet!
A once great nation has been reduced to a third world country as I felt it would be with the election of this President
Californiasodbuster
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:06pmAnd take your idiot daughters with you.
Report Post »The10thAmendment
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 5:09pmHuntsman is the definition of what the former GOP represented by way of right wing progressives. With a candidate like Huntsman, who needs Hitler.
Report Post »riseandshine
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 8:48pmV-Man….Well said
Report Post »saranda
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 4:30pmThe more I hear from Huntsman the more I like him. There is no question he is the least controversial of all the repub candidates.
Report Post »Psychosis
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 4:53pmlol nice try troll
there are no huntsman supporters here
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 6:45pmI want “controversial” not some lib suck-up
Report Post »TeaPartyanimal
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 7:23pmand the least likely to ever see the light of day. thats prob why you are for him. cus your a libby.
Report Post »garyM
Posted on November 6, 2011 at 4:29pmDon‘t worry Huntsman will won’t confuse a RINO with a conservative!
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