How Jon Huntsman Won the New Hampshire Primary

Excellent Post! (4.00 / 4)

And it would make great history.  Huntsman, Roemer -- are you listening?  You're the "different kind," though only slightly, of Republican.  

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by: Rep. Jim Splaine @ Mon Oct 10, 2011 at 12:00:37 PM UTC

We don;t want Huntsman in 2012 (4.00 / 2)

We want him in 2016, as he leads the moderate wing of the GOP to get back to the serious business of governance.

I'm holding my breath until they turn blue.

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by: JimC @ Mon Oct 10, 2011 at 12:31:20 PM UTC

Open Primary? (0.00 / 0)

I thought we did away with that. Only registered Undeclared's along with those registered in a party can vote in that party's primary. Huntsman would have to get many D's to declare themselves U's well before primary day in order to vote R.  At least that's my understanding.

Also, D's want to discourage other D's from voting in the R primary because we will have our own primary, tho not for President.

I've always thought Hunstman could win NH if his rallying cry were to take back the Republican party from the Tea Party, et al. I don't hear that message coming from him. Have I missed it?

"A national political campaign is better than the best circus ever heard of, with a mass baptism and a couple of hangings thrown in."  H.L Mencken.

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by: susaninrindge @ Mon Oct 10, 2011 at 13:10:42 PM UTC

perhaps "Defacto" (0.00 / 0)

Perhaps its more of "defacto open" primary with polling station allowing you to switch your affiliation from one to the other for the 5 minutes it takes to vote.

Hope >> Fear





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by: Mike Hoefer @ Mon Oct 10, 2011 at 14:37:12 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

I don't think you can switch from D to R at the polls (4.00 / 1)

I think you can switch from D to U before the primary, up until some deadline; but I don't think it's still legal to switch at the polls.

"A national political campaign is better than the best circus ever heard of, with a mass baptism and a couple of hangings thrown in."  H.L Mencken.

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by: susaninrindge @ Mon Oct 10, 2011 at 17:56:09 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

Maybe its just the Undeclareds I'm thinking bout (0.00 / 0)

show up as a U, tell them you want a R ballot, vote, switch back to a U on the way out.

If I recall, U's are the "Majority Party" at this point, so an important block for the Wannabe POTUS to play to... right now they all seem to be playing to the hard right.  

Hope >> Fear





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by: Mike Hoefer @ Mon Oct 10, 2011 at 21:40:32 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

How it works (0.00 / 0)

1. You can come in to vote already registered as a Republican. In that case, you cannot change affiliation.
2. You can come in to vote already registered as  Undeclared. In that case, when you take a pink ballot, you are registered as a Republican. You can then change your affiliation back to Undeclared immediately after voting.
3. You can come in to vote without being registered. You register at the polling place as Undeclared, but then ask for a pink ballot. That registers you as Republican. You can then change your affiliation to undeclared immediately after voting. (I think you could also have said, "I'm registering today as Republican," vote, then change affiliation to Undeclared - same difference.)

Same thing for Democratic options, of course.

BTW: I called it an "open" primary (in quotes). It isn't completely open - a registered Dem cannot vote in the other party primary. But it sure isn't closed, with some 46% of voters Undeclared.

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by: elwood @ Mon Oct 10, 2011 at 21:45:46 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

State primary in September, (4.00 / 1)

so there's plenty of time to switch back.  I don't like the cross-party voting as a tactic, primarily because it betrays a defensive and bankrupt ideology.  On the other hand, maybe that's all we have.

Anyway, I don't think anyone really cares - at least not GOP voters in NH according to the AP:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/...

That reality was on display last week when 10 New Hampshire women, middle-class mothers with a strong voting history, shared their perspectives on the presidential contest with political researchers - and had trouble simply naming the candidates.

When asked who was running, they cited Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, and his chief rival, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, relatively quickly. One of them tentatively suggested the name of Texas Rep. Ron Paul. But they could name no one else. They could not recall former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who had recently moved his national headquarters to a building about 10 miles down the road. They didn't mention the only woman in the race, Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann. Nor did they name businessman Herman Cain.

In the immediate aftermath of Since the start of the financial crisis, the Fed/Treasury lent, spent, or guaranteed $28 $29 trillion to save the banking system.

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by: StraffordDem @ Mon Oct 10, 2011 at 15:11:24 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

elwood you and Fergus Cullen must have been separated at birth ...read his piece in the UL (4.00 / 1)

. http://www.unionleader.com/art...

here is a highly edited version...read the whole piece and hope that Huntsman does as well.
Fergus Cullen: Missing from the 2012 race: the straight-talking maverick

Published Oct 8, 2011

This Republican presidential field isn't missing Chris Christie or the next knight riding a white horse. It lacks a type of candidate: the maverick.

The maverick doesn't try to win over every primary voter. He doesn't really want to win over every voter. He's disgusted by the pandering to groups he's expected to do, so most of the time he refuses to play along. He relishes telling voters things they don't want to hear. If the base of his party is wrong on some issue, he's willing to say so. If that costs him votes, so be it....

Instead, we've seen too much orthodoxy and not enough telling of inconvenient truths. Poll-driven candidates play it safe, afraid to say anything that might cost them the vote of a single primary voter. There's been a shortage of straight talk at a time when voters may be more open to candidates who treat them like adults than they've ever been.

When a recent debate audience booed a soldier who happens to be gay, a maverick might have started his answer with, "Thank you for your service."

When an earlier debate audience erupted in bloodlusty whoops and hollers at the mention of capital punishment, a maverick might have said, "I believe in justice being served, but the death penalty is not something a civil society celebrates in that way."

When other members of a debate audience yelled out that society should let a sick person who is uninsured die, a maverick might have responded quietly, "I don't think you'd say that if the patient were your child. I'm not willing to stand by and watch someone else's daughter die just because she's uninsured."

Don't look for Risk Averse Romney to speak up in such situations.... Jon Huntsman could become the McCain-style maverick but so far Huntsman has cautiously pulled his punches....

Stop playing it so safe, guys. You're better than this, and the country needs more.

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by: political chowder @ Tue Oct 11, 2011 at 15:22:28 PM UTC