01:01 pm
Huntsman ‘12?
There’s a fascinating interview in today’s Politico with Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who is beginning to stake out territory to the left of most national Republicans and yet significantly to the right of the Obama Administration. The whole thing’s worth reading, but here’s an excerpt I found particularly interesting:
Q: At the Republican Governors Association meeting in December you had some pretty sharp critiques of your own party. How is your party doing now and how would you rate the performance of congressional Republicans?
A: You know, it may come as a shock and a surprise, but I don’t pay any attention to what’s coming out of Congress. I couldn’t even tell you what these guys are saying, because it matters so little in our home state and in the region that I represent.
We are tasked with balancing our own budgets and fixing healthcare, ‘cause nobody else is. These guys aren’t doing a thing for us. And so what do we do? We have to do it ourselves.
Q: Are you saying that congressional Republicans are irrelevant?
A: Well, I’m saying, to a lot of states like ours, there isn’t much guidance coming out of Congress that necessarily impacts anything we do. But I’ll tell you this about the overall debate: we will be irrelevant as a party until we become the party of solutions and until we become the party of preeminence.
Q: Is it a party of “no” right now?
A: I’m not sure that it can be defined in any way in particular, because there’s nothing there with which to define it. And it won’t be defined until it breaks through with some real, practical solutions. “No” isn’t a solution.
It’s certainly too early to say, but Huntsman could be a formidable opponent for Obama in 2012. He definitely is coming from a different place than Jindal, Palin, or Huckabee: he is a strong environmentalist, and he recently came out in favor of civil unions for gays and lesbians (which, given the fact he’s governor of the most conservative, homophobic state in the Union, is a pretty amazing development).
Huntsman could do for Republicans what David Cameron is trying to do for the Tories in England — move them from a knee-jerk conservatism that is largely intellectually bankrupt and toward a more centrist, mainstream approach. That said, I sincerely doubt that the Limbaugh-Palin base would give him their votes in the primary, especially given their widespread belief that McCain’s mistake was to tack to the center.
Huntsman is only 48. He has the time (and the money — his father is a billionaire who, according to Business Week, gave over $800 million last year to fund cancer research) to build his brand. Over the long run, he could represent the Republicans’ best hope to find a way out of the wilderness.
I think Huntsman’s rise is, on balance, a good thing (not that I want him to challenge Obama). Democrats should avoid the temptation to encourage the wingnut faction of the minority party. We need a real debate over ideas, not a sterile demonization of the other side. Obama needs more folks like Huntsman and Florida Governor Charlie Crist, politicians with whom he can work to address the crisis we’re in now.