Could Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman defeat Obama?

Jon Huntsman. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.com.

It must be apparent by now to most sentient beings that the results of the Iowa caucuses offered nary a candidate capable of igniting even a modicum of enthusiasm in the 2012 presidential race. And as E. J. Dionne, a worshiper of Barack Obama in 2008, recently observed:

As the attention of the politically minded has focused on the rather more down-to-earth contests in Iowa and New Hampshire that will help determine which Republican will face Mr. Obama in November, let us ponder what the coming year will bring for someone who must now seek re-election as a mere mortal.

Oh, but E. J., out there on the horizon in the New Hampshire Republican primary, Jon Huntsman could emerge as a candidate whose qualifications for the presidency just might excite currently lethargic Republicans, Democrats, and independents sufficiently to defeat incumbent Obama. It seems as if, Obama, like Icarus, flew too close to the sun and got his wings melted.

In today’s LA Times, Michael A. Memoli reports from N.H.:

In its endorsement of Jon Huntsman, the Boston Globe made largely the same case for the Utah governor’s candidacy that the candidate himself has to New Hampshire voters -- that he is the rare GOP candidate prioritizing the national interest over ideology.

The Globe, which has a reach into many southern New Hampshire homes, snubbed former home state Gov. Mitt Romney for the second time in its endorsement for the first-in-the-nation primary, after backing John McCain in the 2008 vote.

Both Huntsman and Romney, the paper’s editorial board writes, "have track records of success" and "have shown the breadth of spirit to lead the nation."

"But while Romney proceeds cautiously, strategically, trying to appease enough constituencies to get himself the nomination, Huntsman has been bold," the Globe said.

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