It’s very difficult to imagine the circumstances that would allow Jon Huntsman to seriously compete for the Republican presidential nomination. But given that he’s competing for the same kinds of GOP voters as the party’s frontrunner, Mitt Romney, Huntsman is focusing most of his attacks on the former Massachusetts governor.
And Huntsman’s campaign is proving to be very good at it.
Over the summer, for example, Huntsman’s spokesperson said, “You know your job creation record is bad when you brag about leapfrogging a state ravaged by Hurricane Katrina. The reality is Mitt Romney’s record on job creation was abysmal by every standard.” It was an immediate clip-and-save quote.
This morning, Huntsman used the “perfectly lubricated weathervane” line, which is oddly perfect, and this afternoon, Kombiz flagged this brutal video the Huntsman campaign put together.
Romney, it would seem, has two main flaws as a candidate. He’s a cowardly and uncontrollable flip-flopper with no core convictions, and he has an atrocious record on job creation. And on both fronts, I’d argue that Huntsman is hitting Romney on both counts more effectively than anyone in either party.
If Democrats — Obama’s re-election team, the DNC, allied super PACs, etc. — are smart, they’re taking note at what Huntsman is up to. This is content that should probably be used again in 2012.
