Departing Jon Huntsman decries 'toxic' GOP campaign
Jon Huntsman made it official Monday 鈥� dropping out of the presidential race and endorsing Mitt Romney. In essence, the political world has reacted with a collective shrug.
The former Utah governor鈥檚 campaign never really got off the ground. He remained at the bottom of the polls, missing out on the surges enjoyed by his rivals trying to knock Romney from the top spot.
Even his endorsing Romney 鈥� jumping on a bandwagon headed at a speedy pace toward Saturday鈥檚 South Carolina primary and beyond 鈥� is unlikely to change the GOP presidential dynamic. Remember Tim Pawlenty? He jumped to Romney鈥檚 ship when he dropped out, and he鈥檚 barely been heard from since.
The other four remaining candidates are happy to have their numbers whittled down 鈥� which could make things more interesting in Monday night鈥檚 debate on Fox News as they get more time to snap at Romney鈥檚 ankles. Other than that, they don鈥檛 see much change.
鈥淕ov. Huntsman ran as a moderate, trying to compete with Gov. Romney for the establishment moderate vote,鈥� Rick Santorum told Politico Monday. 鈥淕ov. Romney had a leg up on him being a solid moderate that the establishment could get behind. Gov. Huntsman wasn鈥檛 able to crack through that. So I鈥檓 not surprised by that all, and I anticipated that actually sooner than today.鈥�
Democrats are sure to replay the nice things Huntsman once had to say about the president he served as ambassador to China 鈥� not to mention his sharp comments about Romney. (On camera, Huntsman once called Romney 鈥渦nelectable.鈥�)
Tweeted Obama campaign strategist David Axelrod: 鈥淗unts called Obama 鈥榓 remarkable leader,鈥� Mitt 鈥榩erfectly lubricated weather vane.鈥� Now hes 4 Mitt, and decries loss of 鈥榯rust鈥� in politics?鈥�
From the beginning, Huntsman emphasized 鈥渃ivility, humanity, and respect鈥� in his campaign, and he ended his press conference Monday noting the lack of those qualities in the GOP presidential contest so far.
鈥淭his race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative attacks not worthy of the American people and not worthy of this critical time,鈥� Huntsman said. 鈥淎t its core, the Republican Party is a party of ideas, but the current toxic form of our political discourse does not help our cause.鈥�
Following his disappointing performance in the New Hampshire primary 鈥� third place behind Romney and Ron Paul in the state where he鈥檇 put most of his campaign effort 鈥� it was clear from state polls that he鈥檇 do no better than fifth or sixth in South Carolina. Besides, his campaign was running out of money.
"I believe it is now time for our party to unite around the candidate best equipped to defeat Barack Obama," Huntsman said from Myrtle Beach, S.C. "Despite our differences and the space between us on some of the issues, I believe that candidate is Mitt Romney."
Romney 鈥� who鈥檚 trying to portray himself as a true believer among socially conservative evangelical 海角大神s in red states (especially the South) 鈥� did not join the clearly moderate Huntsman Monday. Instead, the Romney campaign issued a brief statement: 鈥淚 salute Jon Huntsman and his wife Mary Kaye. Jon ran a spirited campaign based on unity not division, and love of country.聽 I appreciate his friendship and support.鈥�
