Bruce Bartlett, who was an official in the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, says the rise of Donald Trump could be a catalyst for change for the GOP – which could include the political resurgence of Jon Huntsman, Jr.
Bartlett, in an extensive interview with Salon, says the purchase of the Tribune by the Huntsman family could be the first step in a bid to become the moderate voice of the party.
There’s absolutely no leader for a Republican Party that I could support. I was interested to notice just today that Jon Huntsman’s family has bought the Salt Lake City Tribune. He was kind of the last guy to run for president on a genuinely moderate platform. [John] Kasich has moderate rhetoric, but his policies are just as hardline as all the others. So maybe Huntsman will reemerge as a voice of some kind in the party. For years I’d been hoping that Colin Powell would step up, but he obviously is not going to do that. I don’t know. If there’s demand, somebody will supply it.
