If Jon Huntsman decides to run for president again in 2016, he might be able to get some traction, and perhaps win, by getting a little bit meaner than he was in 2012.
The Week’s Michael Brendan Dougherty says Huntsman decided to play nice with his opponents until the end of his campaign. When his campaign started to play hardball was when he began to hit is stride.
The Huntsman campaign had one thing that worked well: An opposition research team that could take heads. It was willing to leak on Herman Cain, who was the ultimate populist fraud of the 2012 GOP primary, and even leaked on Mitch Daniels, keeping him out of the race.
Huntsman had the record and credibility to inflict damage on Romney, Gingrich, Santorum, and other conservatives from the right and center in these debates. He had a way to look both more serious and more conservative than his opponents at the same time. If he runs again, he should let the little devil on his shoulder speak more. Substance doesn’t have to be so prim and civil with raving frauds.
Let the voters know that the GOP primary has too many clowns in the clown car. Call out the conservatives who perform like pitchfork-wielding lunatics in their district, and then dine out with lobbyists and cash checks from widows in D.C. Bash those who talk like revolutionaries year after year, even as they ossify into the least accomplished Establishment in American history.
