Gainor Column: Media Declare Huntsman GOP's Obama (Too Bad They Prefer Real Thing)
John Lennon once wrote "all you need is love." If that's the case, then GOP unknown Jon Huntsman will be the next president of the United States.
The quasi-Republican former ambassador to China is finding the media environment filled with love. Huntsman, who was also the governor of Utah, is trying to position himself as "electable" because liberals, gays and the media love him. (Yes, sometimes those three groups aren't identical.)
They love him because he's the kind of Republican they could vote for if they held their noses and someone forced them to choose a GOP candidate. (Actually, they wouldn't, but it makes a convenient fiction.) After all, they claim, he's a "moderate Republican." Remember when we had "liberal Republicans?" According to Nexis, that term hasn't been used on ABC, CBS or NBC all year.
What else do you call a pro-gay Republican who not only worked for Obama and called him a "remarkable leader," but still has "respect" for the president after Obamacare and a host of other Big Government fiascos. Throw in Huntsman's lefty views on climate and what the Club for Growth calls "inexcusable" spending as governor, and you have an ideal media candidate.
Hence, Huntsman mania. No organization is more in love with this piece of presidential timber than Politico. The politics junkie outlet writes about Huntsman every day and twice on Sundays. From January through June 21, Politico has had more than 330 stories mentioning Huntsman, despite the fact that GOP voters don't know who he is or care. (They are writing so fast, I can't keep up. On June 22, they added eight more - as of 5:38 p.m.)
Still, Politico's propagandized readers get bombarded with feel-good Huntsman stories such as: "Jon Huntsman, the rock 'n' roll years," "Huntsman to take page from Reagan," or 'Huntsman's theme: 'Leadership.'" We are told about "Huntsman fears growing at Team Obama," without it dawning on the Politico scribes that Team Obama fears him out of similarity not difference.
Contrast that with former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain who won the first GOP debate, has a strong Tea Party base of support, polls better and even Politico admits "when it comes to passion, Herman Cain has the lead." Cain was only mentioned in 283 stories even though he's been in the race longer.
Of course, Huntsman has the right (or left) kind of support. So that makes it all OK.
He's got former President Jimmy Carter, the one who defined the Misery Index and now just hates Israel full time, saying Huntsman is "very attractive to me personally." Then there's Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid chiming in on the fellow Mormon. 'If I had a choice, I would favor Huntsman over Romney,' said Reid. That's only fair since Huntsman "appointed Reid's son, Josh, to Utah's Board of Regents" and Huntsman's family has given Reid's Senate campaign more than $25,000.
Why stop there? Former Rep. Artur Davis, D-Ala., says Huntsman is "an estimable figure who has obvious potential to threaten the 2008 Obama coalition." Much has been written about Huntsman's pro-gay strategy. The 'gay advocacy website' On Top magazine called Huntsman "a gay rights ally." And, of course, McCain campaign alumni were helping Huntsman behind the scenes.
Then there are the supposedly neutral news folks. Journalists have set this up as a battle of the businessmen - pitting Huntsman against one top GOP candidate Mitt Romney. Naturally, given the nation's high unemployment rate, horrible economy and fears of a double-dip recession, a businessman might fare well this election. But it's a battle the media have already decided Romney should lose.
Romney is portrayed as dance-crazed Mormon, flitting across the cover of Newsweek - his head superimposed on the body of an actor from the new Mormon musical. Journalists from CNN, The New York Times and other outlets jumped all over Romney's "I'm also unemployed" joke, but Obama's insensitive "shovel-ready" comment got little mention.
On the other side is the motorcycle-riding (or is it his stunt double?), rock 'n' roller Huntsman. Over at the other dying news magazine Time, the former ambassador to China is officially trendy. Time's May 23 issue was headlined "The Cool Kid: Jon Huntsman is a pro-civil union Mormon who spent nearly two years working for Obama." So he loves Obama and gays, that's two pluses to most journalists. Even better for media types, the article showed it's not too clear just how Mormon Huntsman is now. "I'm a very spiritual person," and "proud of my Mormon roots." Neither one of those sounds like he has a firm belief system.
Syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer summed up the media love affair nicely, saying PBS's Mark Shields wants a "Republican nominee who is a squish and then he'll vote against him anyway." In another year where the media could control the campaign, a McCain-esque candidate might win. But conservative voters are angry and they are more likely to be hunting a RINO than voting for one.
Dan Gainor is the Boone Pickens Fellow and the Media Research Center's Vice President for Business and Culture. He can also be contacted on Facebook and Twitter as dangainor.
- Dan Gainor's blog
- Login to post comments
Comments
The media's ideal
Submitted by motherbelt on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 8:46am.
The media's ideal Republican...someone who acts like a Democrat.
Do they really think Republicans WANT to vote for a not-really Republican?
If they did, they'd be Democrats.
Far be it from me to criticize Dr. K, but I would have said Shields (and the rest of the media) want a Republican nominee who is a squish and then they'll beat up on him anyway.
Unless it's a Republican they would publicly endorse over Obama, they should just shut up.
Definitely The Democrats' Choice
Submitted by lgeubank on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 8:55am.
Huntsman is definitely the Democrats' choice for a Republican candidate for president. They're touting him like a snake-oil salesman down to his last bottle.
But what arrogance, to think they can tout that nag!
Cross-Over Primaries
Submitted by HardRightTurn on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 10:11am.
Is this the McCain-like candidate who the left will cross over party lines to vote for in the primaries so their candidate can win in the general election like they did in 2008?
_________________________________________________________________________
To more fully comprehend the Left, one must read “Leftism As Psychopathy” by John Ray, M.A., Ph.D. Caution, it might scare you a little bit.
http://jonjayray.tripod.com/psycho.html
This is not good
Submitted by needle on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 10:28am.
This strongly suggests that Jon Huntsman is a psychopathic liar.
- Looking forward to the self-annihilation of the Manipulated Stories Machine.
Yes, isn't it nice how the
Submitted by Slyrr on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 10:47am.
Yes, isn't it nice how the liberal media are so eager and anxious to pick our candidates for us? Because they want the GOP to win of course, and replace their beloved King Obama.
Yeah, right. The liberal media sank all their credibility and reputations into Barak Obama. They went and put their collective foot in it for the man, and now the time has come for them to pull it out and pay for it. They pimped him, they whored themselves for him. They declared he was a 'god who stands above us all', a man who would 'lower the sea', make all of America's enemies stand down, and lead the world to a new golden age with himself as their god.
Now they see their 'god' has feet of clay. His presidency has been a disaster. His economic policies have plunged the nation into mega-trillion dollar debt. Unemployment is soaring. Inflation is soaring. The 'misery index' is soaring. People are losing their jobs, their houses, losing the 'hope' that Obama falsely promised would come with his rise to power. America's enemies are on the march, growing bolder with each screw-up Obama makes. America has gone from a world leader to a 'nation in decline'. Obama robs the country of freedom and liberty, telling companies he has 'his boot on their necks', telling the people they are 'bumps on (his) road to recovery'. Instead of the peace and maypole-dancing he promised, he has instead ordered his people to 'argue and get in the faces' of 'his enemies', and to 'bring guns'. And the only reason the sea has lowered is because it has been revealed that environmentalists lied about how high it was in the first place.
I don't doubt that many in the media are cringing in horror at what their man-child has done, is doing, and has planned. Their shiny golden liberal utopia has been laid bare as a crumbling shanty-town full of corruption, mob violence, poverty and misery.
But they are 'invested'. If they admit they were wrong, if their 'god' falls, then they fall with him. Which is why we are getting ever more brazen stories about how 'everything is fine' and how 'things are turning around' and 'not as bad as it looks'. They're lying straight in our faces and they know it - and WE know it. They are literally standing in front of a plainly blue sky and telling us it's plaid.
The 20-odd percent of the population who are beyond redemption will believe it. The rest of us will cast Obama out of power. And hopefully change the law so that politicians who are voted out of office dont' get one red cent of taxpayer money.
Rush and Levin handled this guy nicely
Submitted by Texndoc on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 10:57am.
You can hear the audio from Rush and Levin by searching around a bit.
I read Huntsman's plan is this: run hard in OPEN primaries. Get the "Independents" and Democrats looking to screw with the Republican primaries this year to vote for HIM. Nice, huh? He is an Obama plant and just quite possibly end up his VP choice, and I'm being dead serious.
As I recall, the Demorats
Submitted by Slyrr on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 11:01am.
As I recall, the Demorats wanted McCain as their VP pick at some point as well.
That SHOULD have disqualified McCain on the spot.
I for one am SICK of the media and Democrats picking our candidates. Perry had it right when he said the time has come to stop trying to please them because they'll never be happy. It's time to tell the liberal media to pound sand and quit trying to please them, when it's obvious they're democrat collaborators who will never be unbaised.
Huntsman
Submitted by jessieH on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 11:09am.
I think he;s a paid for candidate. The media was the first to put his name out. They like him. If they like him, who's behind his campaign? Soros? Since obama has failed, has he chosen his replacement? Just wondering.
The Dems kill Huntsman's campaign
Submitted by Galvanic on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 11:14am.
If I'm a serious Republican candidate for any office, and Carter and Reid publicly prefer me over other GOP candidates, I might as well fold up the tent and load up the wagon; I'm cooked.
Huntsman's campaign is just starting and already he's got this unwanted baggage. That's politics!
You are right, but if a tree
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 7:00pm.
You are right, but if a tree falls in the woods and no one hears about it .... did it really happen. People are not going to hear about the problems with Huntsman.
If the liberals like
Submitted by hbnolikeee on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 1:33pm.
Huntsman than there's more wrong with him than anyone knows or they feel O'Bummer will destroy him in 2021.
I'm no Romney fan. I'll
Submitted by Free Stinker on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 5:53pm.
I'm no Romney fan. I'll take Palin, Bachmann, Cain, Jindal, or DeMint over him anyday.
Having said that, I suspect the MSM thinks Romney can beat Obama, so RINO or not, they need a weak ringer that Obama can beat and Huntsman is the ringer.
Remember before the 2000 primies? The MSM was full of stories about how great Bush-43 was. They thought he would lose the general election, and he nearly did. The MSM never "forgave" him for actually winning.
/// Sarah Palin Fan since July 11, 2007 /// خال
Huntsman isn't a "liberal
Submitted by classicliberal2 on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 6:09pm.
Huntsman isn't a "liberal Republican," either in the sense of being a liberal or in the sense of being liberal for a Republican. He isn't a "moderate," either. He's a plain old fashioned conservative who happens to hold some arguably-less-than-conservative views on a handful of issues. Daniel Allott, from National Review, covered this in an op-ed a few days ago:
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0611/57401.html
Unfortunately, in the current political environment, the hard right Ideology Police seek to excommunicate from conservatism anyone who isn't 100% pure. Huntsman accepts the conclusion of every reputable scientist in the field regarding global warming, and doesn't think the government should put homosexuals in ovens, so he is ruled absolutely unacceptable. The fact that he holds conservative views on practically everything else is given no weight--he's mischaracterized as a "moderate Republican" by the corporate press, and the hard right whines that he isn't even more grossly mischaracterized as a "liberal Republican." It's pretty obvious that a lot of those in the corporate press are in the midst of a love affair with Huntsman. It's a love affair with a conservative.
I can sort of feel the pain of those who think Herman Cain is getting shafted by the press. Every time an election year rolls around, the press and the rest of our political "gatekeepers" basically ignore candidates who are deemed "unelectable," thus making those candidates unelectable, all the while maintaining the despicable fiction that they're not an active part of the process. This is a serious problem for our democracy, but has never gotten much attention from conservatives, because it has, in almost every case, been used to exclude and ignore liberal candidates (Ron Paul being the exception). It's good to finally see some degree of concern by conservatives about how this affects--and afflicts--our democracy, even if it did take their ox being gored to get them to finally take some notice of it.
You are either ignoring the
Submitted by Dan The Man 2 on Sat, 06/25/2011 - 7:04pm.
You are either ignoring the obvious or just don't get it ... we don't want any more RINOs. Obama was elected because there wasn't a true blue conservative running against him. A true conservative would have cut him to ribbons. We want a Sarah Palin who wanted to bring out the big guns but was held back; take no prisoners.
I will NOT spend the next 5
Submitted by ampul man on Sun, 06/26/2011 - 6:00am.
I will NOT spend the next 5 years looking at that ridiculous dye job (right temple). Nobody grays like that.
I did a much better job myself with Just for Men.
CNN, the Clinton News Network---Bill decides; Hill reports
More on hairdoo
Submitted by ampul man on Sun, 06/26/2011 - 11:06am.
If you're gonna do a job on the gray, you could at least, try to look like Paulie, of Sopranos fame.
CNN, the Clinton News Network---Bill decides; Hill reports