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The Spectacle Blog
Partly in response to my piece about movement conservatives generally losing the Republican presidential nomination, the Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf lists five reasons why this is the case. I agree with much of what he has to say, but here I’ll focus on my disagreements.
Conservatives aren’t very good at gauging the conservatism of GOP candidates. I’ll agree that cultural cues and liberal-baiting sometimes play too large a role in conservative candidate selection while policy views, issue positions, and record play too small a role. But it’s worth noting that most Republican primary voters who said they were looking for a conservative candidate voted against Mitt Romney, even though Romney tried very hard to send the right cues and say the right things. Why? Because Romney didn’t have a very conservative record relative to the rest of the Republican field. This continues a trend among conservatives that we’ve been starting to see at the congressional level.
[I]n 2000 the whole conservative movement rallied enthusiastically behind George W. Bush. Bush is a partial exception to the rule that the candidate preferred by movement conservatives loses the nomination, but only a partial one. Bush worked hard to win over conservative activists and intellectuals starting in 1999, but it was also clear he planned to triangulate against them. (Remember his comment that the Gingrich Congress was balancing the budget on the backs of the poor?) There was a lot of conservative unease with Bush and the race could just have easily been Bush the establishment candidate crushing Steve Forbes the movement candidate. But then John McCain won New Hampshire running to the left of Bush. That rallied conservatives behind Bush in the same way that McCain was able to get conservatives to vote for Romney in 2008.
The field of what Republican voters take to be earnest conservative insurgents is likely to keep swelling with Donald Trumps and Herman Cains and maybe even Stephen Colberts in the future… The simple fact is that the Donald Trumps and Herman Cains fizzled out while the main conservative alternative to Romney was, for all his flaws, a more serious conservative. Even the surviving candidates running behind Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul, have long legislative histories that include some real conservative accomplishments.
Then there’s Jon Huntsman. The Huntsman campaign either chose or blundered into the way they introduced their little known candidate to Republican primary voters. It wasn’t an image that was likely to win many primaries. Maybe Huntsman’s Utah record and platform should have mattered more than his tweets or even his service as an ambassador under Obama. But the tweets and the ambassadorship were a big part of Huntsman’s actual message. It is human nature for voters to make an initial judgment about a candidate before even looking into their records.
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More Blog Posts by W. James Antle, III
http://spectator.org/blog/2012/04/12/choosing-conservatives
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randyinrocklin| 4.12.12 @ 2:06PM
wasn't the campaign manager for Huntsman the same guy that got McCain to lose?
Kate| 4.12.12 @ 2:50PM
Conservatives missed a golden opportunity to win this election with a conservative when they rejected Governor Huntsman. Not only is Huntsman a traditional conservative in the Reagan model, he had the greatest appeal to independent voters and some Democrats because of his temperament, seriousness (unlike Cain, Bachmann and Trump) and ability to work across the aisle (as Reagan did). If Huntsman, rather than Romney, were our presumptive nominee, I suspect he would be leading Obama in the polls today.
I understand that Huntsman's August tweet about climate change and his refusal to sign pledges turned some conservatives off. Not this conservative. As Reagan said, someone who agrees with you 80% of the time is a friend and ally, not a 20% traitor. We need to go back to that way of thinking. And, if memory serves, many conservatives, including some in the conservative media, branded Huntsman as unacceptable or a RINO or a liberal (solely because of his appointment as ambassador to China by Obama), BEFORE he even declared his candidacy, let alone sent a tweet about climate change.
This conservative hopes Jon Huntsman will seek the presidency in the future.
Teflon93| 4.12.12 @ 3:30PM
One Mormon RINO at a time, please.
Kate| 4.12.12 @ 11:46PM
Huntsman is no RINO, a term that is so overused as to be almost meaningless. That said, I agree that Romney is a RINO in light of many of his past statements (such as his 1994 statement that he didn't want to go back to Reagan-Bush) and flipflopping on most key issues.
A lot of people wanted Chris Chistie and/or Mitch Daniels to get into the 2012 race. If they had done so, many people would have branded them as RINOs too. I hope our party will be smart enough to avoid branding as RINOs in 2016 or 2020 candidates who are conservatives but may not be 100% in lock step with the tea party or evangelicals or other factions of the party. We won't win elections that way -- there is no perfect candidate.
Dai Alanye | 4.13.12 @ 11:14AM
It is necessary -- or should be -- to consider a candidate's character, and to some extent his personality. This was where the monumental ego of Jon Huntsman killed his chances.
And being stupid enough to fall for anthropogenic global warming didn't help.
Vern Crisler | 4.12.12 @ 3:46PM
He led with his chin, which is the point of the comments above.
Trinacria| 4.12.12 @ 3:54PM
My Dear Kate,
I believe Ronald Reagan also said, "Never vote for a weasel that looks like Barney Fife." I could be wrong on the source, but the advice is sound.
Crassus| 4.12.12 @ 3:59PM
Rush had it best about Huntsman when he said that the former Utah governor should have challenged Obama for the Democratic nomination.
Kate| 4.12.12 @ 11:35PM
That statement by Rush proves my point. Had he done even a modicum of research, Rush would have discovered that Huntsman was a strong conservative. Those who are in the media and therefore in a position to influence the opinions of many people have an obligation to get their facts straight before they speak.
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 3:09PM
The RINO-CINO Ruling Elites & Their Israel Firster Girlfriends Have Given
Us McCain & Now, Romney McCain Redux.
We Are Being Set Up By The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges For The Ruling Elites' Frontman Mittens Romney.
These Are The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges Who Gave Us The Serial Traitor To Conservatism, John McCain Of McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy,McCain-Lieberman,Gang Of 14, Opposing Bush Tax Cuts Of 2001 & 2003,TARP.
Now They Are Trying To Give Us RomneyCare,TARP, Cynical Flip-Flops On Abortion, Gays, Refuses to Sign Pro-Life Pledge, Illegal Immigrants, "Little Chain Saw Al" At Bain, Crony Capitalism Campaign Money Trail.....
Bill| 4.12.12 @ 3:36PM
VEEP Talk:
1. Chris Christie
Pros: NJ will turn RED, a fiscal hawk governor
Cons: declined
2. Pat Toomey
Pros: PA will turn RED
Cons: groundwork
3. Rob Portman
Pros: OH will flip RED
Cons: former Bush executive
4. Kelly Ayotte
Pros: The women votes
Cons: NH has only 4 electoral votes
5. Marco Rubio
Pros: The Latino votes
Cons: waterdowned DREAM Act
6. Jeb Bush
Pros: The Latino votes (he speaks fluent Spanish)
Cons: Bush dynasty
7. Mitch Daniel
Pros: signed the "Right-To-Work" law
Cons: name recognition
8. Bobby Jindal
Pros: "Reaganite" fiscal hawk southern governor
Cons: declined
9. Bob McDonald
Pros: Southern heritage
Cons: None!
AG: Pam Bondi (FL), Ken Kuccinalli (VA), Greg Abbott(TX).
And the VP nominee is......................................
Mender| 4.12.12 @ 3:49PM
Agree with the above, what matters is the vp choice now. It's time to start the call for a properly conservative VP choice: I think Michelle Bachmann would be amazing here. She has the communication skills, the empathy and the experience to really make a difference come the fall. And she's from a major swing state.
Bill| 4.12.12 @ 5:12PM
Michelle Bachmann is facing the toughest race in her life, thanks to the redistricting by the liberal judges in MN.
Clint| 4.12.12 @ 6:46PM
VP Candidates Don't Get Presidential Candidates Elected.
We Are Being Set Up By The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges For The Ruling Elites' Frontman Mittens Romney.
These Are The RINO-CINO Flunkie Stooges Who Gave Us The Serial Traitor To Conservatism, John McCain Of McCain-Feingold, McCain-Kennedy,McCain-Lieberman,Gang Of 14, Opposing Bush Tax Cuts Of 2001 & 2003,TARP.
Now They Are Trying To Give Us RomneyCare,TARP, Cynical Flip-Flops On Abortion, Gays, Refuses to Sign Pro-Life Pledge, Illegal Immigrants, "Little Chain Saw Al" At Bain, Crony Capitalism Campaign Money Trail.....
Teflon93| 4.12.12 @ 7:42PM
Romney isn't going to pick anyone in the field to be his VP---not least of which because they hate his guts for the smear campaign he waged against them, but also because to do so would be to remind conservatives we would have been better to nominate any of them.
He's going to pick a less charismatic RINO.
When have you ever known a CEO to hire an underling who had more star power?
Dai Alanye | 4.13.12 @ 11:16AM
Good points, although his lack of imagination is part of the problem.