Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman Jr. is hinting he might run at the top of a third-party ticket if he doesn’t win his party’s nomination.
After vowing to run as a Republican or nothing at all, Huntsman gave himself a little wiggle room this week to be the nominee of Americans Elect, a well-funded nonprofit group well on its way to getting on the presidential ballot in all 50 states.
The lagging GOP contender told The Daily he is “not even considering” an Americans Elect run, though he quickly added the qualifier “when I’m running as a Republican.”
Only two weeks ago, Huntsman told Fox News Sunday that he absolutely would not run as an independent and would support his party’s nominee.
And as speculation on a third-party run grows, Huntsman is distancing himself from the two top GOP presidential front-runners, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
“Governor Romney will say anything to earn the voters’ trust. We are in this mess because there are already enough people in Washington who make a career out of telling people what they want to hear,” Huntsman said at the National Press Club in Washington. “Newt Gingrich is a product of the same Washington, who participated in the excesses of our broken and polarized political system.”
A Huntsman bid for the Americans Elect nomination “would not be shocking,” a former top adviser told The Daily.
“He’s not likely to get the Republican nomination, so it would make sense. He’s ambitious, and he’s flattered by their interest in him,” the adviser said.
Americans Elect denied it is courting anyone for its ticket.
“We don’t support any particular candidates,” spokeswoman Dagny Leonard said. “We welcome all candidates to step forward and run.”
Americans Elect is creating an online presidential nominating process similar to the system used to select “American Idol” winners.
The organization’s candidate certification committee will weed out candidates who have not served as a member of Congress, governor or chief executive officer, as previous presidents have. Then Internet users will vote on the candidates, who will be chosen in successive rounds starting in April and ending no later than June. Users also will be able to suggest candidates and debate platforms.
No two candidates from the same party will be allowed to run as a ticket.
“This will be a ticket like we’ve never seen before: nonpartisan,” chief operating officer Elliot Ackerman said at his group’s coming-out party Nov. 2 at the National Press Club. “It will be a ticket that keeps both parties on their toes.”
Like Americans Elect, whose leaders claim to represent the middle of the political spectrum, Huntsman has positioned himself as a voice for centrists. After winning election twice as governor of the Utah, Huntsman quit his position in August 2009 to serve as the Obama administration’s ambassador to China, a post he held until April.
At times, as he did speaking at the Heritage Foundation on Dec. 6, Huntsman suggests to conservative audiences that his background will help him overcome the dearth of trust in contemporary public life.
“Americans no longer trust in their political institutions,” he said. “Eight percent of Americans trust Congress, and I’d like to see where those 8 percent are hanging out.”
Huntsman’s bipartisan views have not endeared him to Republican primary voters, who also oppose his defense of gay civil unions and his decision in December 2008 to accept money from what became the $792 billion federal stimulus plan. He is in eighth place in the Republican primary field, according to Real Clear Politics’ average of polls.
Huntsman’s low standing in the polls befuddles him and his campaign staff, according to the ex-adviser.
“He really wants to be the Republican nominee, but he’s very puzzled, dismayed that he’s not getting more traction,” the source said. “He’s plainspoken. He’s forthright. He’s sensible. He’s got a good record. He defends DOMA [the 1996 federal law that allows states the right to not recognize a gay marriage from another state]. Newt’s more liberal than him on global warming and greenhouse emissions. So he’s frustrated.”
The ex-adviser stopped short of predicting Huntsman will make a bid for Americans Elect’s nomination. At 51, Huntsman is young enough to run for the GOP’s presidential nomination again. As a diplomat, he is cautious and prudent enough to pick his battles wisely.
“Whether he runs,” the former adviser said, “is how much he’s dismayed by the Republican Party.”
Dismay over both political parties is what Americans Elect officials believe will cause voters to consider pulling the lever for a third presidential ticket in 2012.
Fed up with the duopoly, the theory goes, Americans will rise up against an antiquated political order, just as citizens in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have risen up nonviolently against theirs.
“What I think will happen again, just like in civil resistance, we’ll have a new force that will come to play in a system that is struggling and that is giving so little satisfaction to the American people,” Peter Ackerman, the group’s 65-year-old board chairman, said in an October 2010 speech.
But some observers believe Americans are unlikely to support Peter Ackerman’s people-powered goals.
“A person who believes in mass civil disobedience is an unlikely person, in my view, to lead a centrist movement,” Northeastern University political scientist William Mayer said. “Most Americans are not into nonviolent civil disobedience. Look at their lack of support for the Occupy Wall Street movement.”
After vowing to run as a Republican or nothing at all, Huntsman gave himself a little wiggle room this week to be the nominee of Americans Elect, a well-funded nonprofit group well on its way to getting on the presidential ballot in all 50 states.
The lagging GOP contender told The Daily he is “not even considering” an Americans Elect run, though he quickly added the qualifier “when I’m running as a Republican.”
Only two weeks ago, Huntsman told Fox News Sunday that he absolutely would not run as an independent and would support his party’s nominee.
And as speculation on a third-party run grows, Huntsman is distancing himself from the two top GOP presidential front-runners, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
“Governor Romney will say anything to earn the voters’ trust. We are in this mess because there are already enough people in Washington who make a career out of telling people what they want to hear,” Huntsman said at the National Press Club in Washington. “Newt Gingrich is a product of the same Washington, who participated in the excesses of our broken and polarized political system.”
A Huntsman bid for the Americans Elect nomination “would not be shocking,” a former top adviser told The Daily.
“He’s not likely to get the Republican nomination, so it would make sense. He’s ambitious, and he’s flattered by their interest in him,” the adviser said.
Americans Elect denied it is courting anyone for its ticket.
“We don’t support any particular candidates,” spokeswoman Dagny Leonard said. “We welcome all candidates to step forward and run.”
Americans Elect is creating an online presidential nominating process similar to the system used to select “American Idol” winners.
The organization’s candidate certification committee will weed out candidates who have not served as a member of Congress, governor or chief executive officer, as previous presidents have. Then Internet users will vote on the candidates, who will be chosen in successive rounds starting in April and ending no later than June. Users also will be able to suggest candidates and debate platforms.
No two candidates from the same party will be allowed to run as a ticket.
“This will be a ticket like we’ve never seen before: nonpartisan,” chief operating officer Elliot Ackerman said at his group’s coming-out party Nov. 2 at the National Press Club. “It will be a ticket that keeps both parties on their toes.”
Like Americans Elect, whose leaders claim to represent the middle of the political spectrum, Huntsman has positioned himself as a voice for centrists. After winning election twice as governor of the Utah, Huntsman quit his position in August 2009 to serve as the Obama administration’s ambassador to China, a post he held until April.
At times, as he did speaking at the Heritage Foundation on Dec. 6, Huntsman suggests to conservative audiences that his background will help him overcome the dearth of trust in contemporary public life.
“Americans no longer trust in their political institutions,” he said. “Eight percent of Americans trust Congress, and I’d like to see where those 8 percent are hanging out.”
Huntsman’s bipartisan views have not endeared him to Republican primary voters, who also oppose his defense of gay civil unions and his decision in December 2008 to accept money from what became the $792 billion federal stimulus plan. He is in eighth place in the Republican primary field, according to Real Clear Politics’ average of polls.
Huntsman’s low standing in the polls befuddles him and his campaign staff, according to the ex-adviser.
“He really wants to be the Republican nominee, but he’s very puzzled, dismayed that he’s not getting more traction,” the source said. “He’s plainspoken. He’s forthright. He’s sensible. He’s got a good record. He defends DOMA [the 1996 federal law that allows states the right to not recognize a gay marriage from another state]. Newt’s more liberal than him on global warming and greenhouse emissions. So he’s frustrated.”
The ex-adviser stopped short of predicting Huntsman will make a bid for Americans Elect’s nomination. At 51, Huntsman is young enough to run for the GOP’s presidential nomination again. As a diplomat, he is cautious and prudent enough to pick his battles wisely.
“Whether he runs,” the former adviser said, “is how much he’s dismayed by the Republican Party.”
Dismay over both political parties is what Americans Elect officials believe will cause voters to consider pulling the lever for a third presidential ticket in 2012.
Fed up with the duopoly, the theory goes, Americans will rise up against an antiquated political order, just as citizens in Eastern Europe and the Middle East have risen up nonviolently against theirs.
“What I think will happen again, just like in civil resistance, we’ll have a new force that will come to play in a system that is struggling and that is giving so little satisfaction to the American people,” Peter Ackerman, the group’s 65-year-old board chairman, said in an October 2010 speech.
But some observers believe Americans are unlikely to support Peter Ackerman’s people-powered goals.
“A person who believes in mass civil disobedience is an unlikely person, in my view, to lead a centrist movement,” Northeastern University political scientist William Mayer said. “Most Americans are not into nonviolent civil disobedience. Look at their lack of support for the Occupy Wall Street movement.”
