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Thursday, Jun. 23, 2011
Huntsman enters S.C. GOP contest
A day after asking U.S. voters to give his record a long look, former U.S. ambassador to China and Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman officially entered the 2012 S.C. Republican presidential primary race Wednesday.
Huntsman, 51, pitched his business experience with his family’s chemical company, noted his foreign policy credentials and argued Utah led the country in economic growth during his time as governor.
He toured a Columbia grill manufacturer before heading to S.C. GOP headquarters to drop off his $35,000 filing fee and sign filing documents. He was accompanied by his wife, Mary Kaye, and four of their seven children.
Huntsman, 51, pitched his business experience with his family’s chemical company, noted his foreign policy credentials and argued Utah led the country in economic growth during his time as governor.
He toured a Columbia grill manufacturer before heading to S.C. GOP headquarters to drop off his $35,000 filing fee and sign filing documents. He was accompanied by his wife, Mary Kaye, and four of their seven children.
“Tune into to what we’ve done as governor and who we are as people,” Huntsman told several dozen party activists, touting high-tech jobs, and his experience balancing Utah’s state budget and beefing up its reserve funds. “Some people run away from their record.”
Huntsman said it was “unacceptable” and “un-American” that the United States is less productive and less competitive than it used to be.
He enters a crowded Republican field – six candidates officially have filed in South Carolina – that could grow more crowded. Polls show Huntsman is largely unknown among voters, and that a significant portion of those who know him react unfavorably to the former governor.
Huntsman’s Wednesday appearance used the same location that former S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster used to announced his 2009 Republican gubernatorial campaign. McMaster’s consultant, Richard Quinn, is working for Huntsman, and the two candidates share much of the same message and imagery: statesman-like experience; a focus on economic development; and allegiance to the optimism of former President Ronald Reagan.
McMaster finished third in the 2010 S.C. GOP primary. How will Huntsman succeed where McMaster failed?
“The voters agreed with that message,” said McMaster, who traveled with Huntsman on Wednesday. “They chose another candidate. He clearly is uniquely qualified, uniquely experienced among all the very fine candidates, and I think the people of South Carolina will like him.”
Huntsman began trying to make those connections Wednesday, touching a key S.C. political issue by calling on President Barack Obama — Huntsman’s former boss when he was ambassador to China — to step into and oppose the National Labor Relations Board complaint against Boeing’s opening of a plant in North Charleston. The agency contends Boeing started the plant to escape unionized workers in Washington state.
S.C. Democrats painted Huntsman as a political moderate, which could spell trouble in a state highly influenced by the conservative Tea Party movement.
Huntsman’s faith also could be problematic in South Carolina. Like Mitt Romney, who finished fourth in the 2008 S.C. Republican presidential primary, Huntsman was raised a Mormon, a faith that has roused suspicion among evangelical Republican voters in the Palmetto State.
Huntsman said Wednesday that he is a Christian, adding spirituality is important. “I believe in God. … I’m very proud of my Mormon roots.”
Also Wednesday, the Washington, D.C.,-based Club for Growth released its assessment of Huntsman — complimenting his tax-cutting and tax-reform record but critical of his record in limiting budget growth. South Carolina has an active Club for Growth chapter, and much of its leadership loaned their support to the candidacies of Gov. Nikki Haley and former Gov. Mark Sanford.
“In the end, it is Gov. Huntsman’s spending record that is inexcusable,” the Club for Growth report concluded. “There is now widespread recognition that the next President must address the enormous threat posed by federal spending that threatens national bankruptcy. Huntsman’s failing grades on controlling state spending raise serious questions about whether he would be equal to that task.”
“If you do the math,” Huntsman said in response,” you’ll find the percentage of spending that went toward government actually decreased.”
Huntsman said it was “unacceptable” and “un-American” that the United States is less productive and less competitive than it used to be.
He enters a crowded Republican field – six candidates officially have filed in South Carolina – that could grow more crowded. Polls show Huntsman is largely unknown among voters, and that a significant portion of those who know him react unfavorably to the former governor.
Huntsman’s Wednesday appearance used the same location that former S.C. Attorney General Henry McMaster used to announced his 2009 Republican gubernatorial campaign. McMaster’s consultant, Richard Quinn, is working for Huntsman, and the two candidates share much of the same message and imagery: statesman-like experience; a focus on economic development; and allegiance to the optimism of former President Ronald Reagan.
McMaster finished third in the 2010 S.C. GOP primary. How will Huntsman succeed where McMaster failed?
“The voters agreed with that message,” said McMaster, who traveled with Huntsman on Wednesday. “They chose another candidate. He clearly is uniquely qualified, uniquely experienced among all the very fine candidates, and I think the people of South Carolina will like him.”
Huntsman began trying to make those connections Wednesday, touching a key S.C. political issue by calling on President Barack Obama — Huntsman’s former boss when he was ambassador to China — to step into and oppose the National Labor Relations Board complaint against Boeing’s opening of a plant in North Charleston. The agency contends Boeing started the plant to escape unionized workers in Washington state.
S.C. Democrats painted Huntsman as a political moderate, which could spell trouble in a state highly influenced by the conservative Tea Party movement.
Huntsman’s faith also could be problematic in South Carolina. Like Mitt Romney, who finished fourth in the 2008 S.C. Republican presidential primary, Huntsman was raised a Mormon, a faith that has roused suspicion among evangelical Republican voters in the Palmetto State.
Huntsman said Wednesday that he is a Christian, adding spirituality is important. “I believe in God. … I’m very proud of my Mormon roots.”
Also Wednesday, the Washington, D.C.,-based Club for Growth released its assessment of Huntsman — complimenting his tax-cutting and tax-reform record but critical of his record in limiting budget growth. South Carolina has an active Club for Growth chapter, and much of its leadership loaned their support to the candidacies of Gov. Nikki Haley and former Gov. Mark Sanford.
“In the end, it is Gov. Huntsman’s spending record that is inexcusable,” the Club for Growth report concluded. “There is now widespread recognition that the next President must address the enormous threat posed by federal spending that threatens national bankruptcy. Huntsman’s failing grades on controlling state spending raise serious questions about whether he would be equal to that task.”
“If you do the math,” Huntsman said in response,” you’ll find the percentage of spending that went toward government actually decreased.”
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