Teh One Who Knocks
08-22-2011, 09:33 PM
By BRIAN KNOWLTON - The New York Times
http://i.imgur.com/1wfjL.jpg
WASHINGTON – Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the former Utah governor who has been stuck in the second tier of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, took an aggressive new tone during a televised interview on Sunday, saying that recent remarks from two of his major rivals were “extreme” and “unrealistic.”
He was referring, respectively, to two of the most conservative Republican candidates – Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and the latest entry in the contest, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas – both of whom have far overshadowed him in polling of Republican voters.
Mr. Huntsman singled out two areas of commentary by Mr. Perry that have drawn particular criticism – Mr. Perry’s skepticism about the human causes of global warming as an unproven theory, and his suggestion that actions by Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, to give the economy a boost might be “treasonous.”
He warned against the Republican Party becoming what he called “the anti-science party,” which he said would create “a huge problem” in 2012. In an appearance on the ABC News program “This Week,” Mr. Huntsman added, “I think when you find yourself at an extreme end of the Republican Party, you make yourself unelectable.”
Mr. Huntsman also scoffed at Mrs. Bachmann’s suggestion that, if elected president, she would help bring the price of gasoline to below $2 a gallon.
“I just don’t know what world that comment would come from,” Mr. Huntsman said. “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.”
The former governor, who served as ambassador to China under President Obama before quitting that post this year to pursue the presidency, has tried to stake out a middle ground in a contest where the loudest voices have come from what he referred to on Sunday as “the fringes.”
Mr. Huntsman insisted that the American public was “crying out for a sensible middle ground.” He described the United States as a center-right country and said that was precisely where he stood.
Mr. Huntsman fared poorly in the Ames straw poll last weekend in Iowa, a state to which he had devoted little attention. He received less than 1 percent of the vote; Mrs. Bachmann won with 29 percent.
But his comments on Sunday suggested that he might have learned a lesson from a fellow Republican whose campaign bore some similarities to his own: Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.
Mr. Pawlenty is another former two-term governor with a record as a relatively mainstream conservative. But at times, Mr. Pawlenty came across as too soft-spoken and moderate in a year of unusually heated partisan passions, some political analysts have said.
They said one of his biggest mistakes was to pass on an opportunity, during an early debate, to follow up on his own criticism of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate, for the health-care plan he shepherded in that state. Mr. Pawlenty quit the Republican race within hours of having placed third in the Ames straw poll.
Mr. Huntsman, who began his candidacy with calls for civility and respect, spent much of the time during his appearance on “This Week” seeming to position himself as a teller of blunt truths.
He criticized Republicans, including Mrs. Bachmann, who had suggested that a default on the nation’s debt might not be a terrible thing. On the contrary, he said, it would have been “catastrophic.”
He was also asked why, during a Republican debate, he had held up his hand along with all the other candidates when asked if they would reject a hypothetical debt deal that would have cut $10 in spending for every $1 in tax increases. He does oppose tax increases, he said, but he dismissed the show-of-hands approach as “nonsense.”
Another Republican candidate, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, took a more indirect swipe at Mr. Perry’s candidacy on Sunday, saying that as Republicans look to the 2012 election, “We’re going to win Texas, no matter who the nominee is.” He said the party would need to carry Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, and “I’ve got the track record to do that.”
Mr. Santorum also criticized the Obama administration for what he suggested was a tepid response to the harsh Syrian crackdown on the protest movement there. The administration called on Thursday for President Bashar al-Assad to leave office, but Mr. Santorum said that “certainly from the very beginning I would’ve called for Assad to step down.”
http://i.imgur.com/1wfjL.jpg
WASHINGTON – Jon M. Huntsman Jr., the former Utah governor who has been stuck in the second tier of candidates for the Republican presidential nomination, took an aggressive new tone during a televised interview on Sunday, saying that recent remarks from two of his major rivals were “extreme” and “unrealistic.”
He was referring, respectively, to two of the most conservative Republican candidates – Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota and the latest entry in the contest, Gov. Rick Perry of Texas – both of whom have far overshadowed him in polling of Republican voters.
Mr. Huntsman singled out two areas of commentary by Mr. Perry that have drawn particular criticism – Mr. Perry’s skepticism about the human causes of global warming as an unproven theory, and his suggestion that actions by Ben S. Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, to give the economy a boost might be “treasonous.”
He warned against the Republican Party becoming what he called “the anti-science party,” which he said would create “a huge problem” in 2012. In an appearance on the ABC News program “This Week,” Mr. Huntsman added, “I think when you find yourself at an extreme end of the Republican Party, you make yourself unelectable.”
Mr. Huntsman also scoffed at Mrs. Bachmann’s suggestion that, if elected president, she would help bring the price of gasoline to below $2 a gallon.
“I just don’t know what world that comment would come from,” Mr. Huntsman said. “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.”
The former governor, who served as ambassador to China under President Obama before quitting that post this year to pursue the presidency, has tried to stake out a middle ground in a contest where the loudest voices have come from what he referred to on Sunday as “the fringes.”
Mr. Huntsman insisted that the American public was “crying out for a sensible middle ground.” He described the United States as a center-right country and said that was precisely where he stood.
Mr. Huntsman fared poorly in the Ames straw poll last weekend in Iowa, a state to which he had devoted little attention. He received less than 1 percent of the vote; Mrs. Bachmann won with 29 percent.
But his comments on Sunday suggested that he might have learned a lesson from a fellow Republican whose campaign bore some similarities to his own: Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.
Mr. Pawlenty is another former two-term governor with a record as a relatively mainstream conservative. But at times, Mr. Pawlenty came across as too soft-spoken and moderate in a year of unusually heated partisan passions, some political analysts have said.
They said one of his biggest mistakes was to pass on an opportunity, during an early debate, to follow up on his own criticism of Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor and Republican presidential candidate, for the health-care plan he shepherded in that state. Mr. Pawlenty quit the Republican race within hours of having placed third in the Ames straw poll.
Mr. Huntsman, who began his candidacy with calls for civility and respect, spent much of the time during his appearance on “This Week” seeming to position himself as a teller of blunt truths.
He criticized Republicans, including Mrs. Bachmann, who had suggested that a default on the nation’s debt might not be a terrible thing. On the contrary, he said, it would have been “catastrophic.”
He was also asked why, during a Republican debate, he had held up his hand along with all the other candidates when asked if they would reject a hypothetical debt deal that would have cut $10 in spending for every $1 in tax increases. He does oppose tax increases, he said, but he dismissed the show-of-hands approach as “nonsense.”
Another Republican candidate, former Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania, took a more indirect swipe at Mr. Perry’s candidacy on Sunday, saying that as Republicans look to the 2012 election, “We’re going to win Texas, no matter who the nominee is.” He said the party would need to carry Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, and “I’ve got the track record to do that.”
Mr. Santorum also criticized the Obama administration for what he suggested was a tepid response to the harsh Syrian crackdown on the protest movement there. The administration called on Thursday for President Bashar al-Assad to leave office, but Mr. Santorum said that “certainly from the very beginning I would’ve called for Assad to step down.”