Tonight was the annual Lincoln Day Dinner in my home county of Orange here in Florida and the guest speaker was Governor Jon Huntsman. Since I was there, and got a chance to meet him (only to say hi and get a photo, but still cool), I thought I’d give you all a first-hand account.
First, the turnout was pretty good. Roughly 400 tickets were sold and there were only a couple of open seats. That’s about what we got when Rudy Giuliani spoke in 2008 before the Florida Primary but less than Sarah Palin last year. As always there was an auction to raise funds for the Party. Quite a few of the items were 2012-themed: a hockey puck and picture signed by Mitt Romney, a signed picture of Rick Perry and a Texas flag, a picture of Michele Bachmann with a signed Minnesota flag, and finally a Harley-Davidson jacket signed by Governor Huntsman. They along with 3 trips and a piece of the Berlin Wall all raised $20,000 for the Orange County GOP.
As for Governor Huntsman, he received a polite, though not overwhelming response. The event itself was not for feet-stomping or raucous cheering, and the Governor isn’t that kind of speaker anyways. It was curious but while he did discuss the debt, calling it a “cancer”, he didn’t say anything about the current debt-ceiling debate. What he did talk about were three main things. First he talked about his record as Governor of Utah and said how he was “running on my record, not from my record”. Secondly he discussed the economy and jobs which he said were the two most important issues in the campaign. He talked about having a new Industrial Revolution and how “we need to start making things again in this country”. This seemed very clever to me; our own Dave G. always talks about having a free-trader who uses protectionist rhetoric and this seemed to me to be going in that direction. The Governor also said that there were two things that needed to be changed about our nation’s fiscal policy: first, cut the corporate tax, and we need to increase revenue (although he wasn’t specific). After that, he moved to energy independence, calling it the low-hanging fruit and he promoted natural gas. The final main theme of his speech was what he called “skepticism of foreign entanglements”. He reiterated his opposition to intervention in Libya and talked dovishly about Afghanistan, saying “only Afghanistan can save Afghanistan. Only Pakistan can save Pakistan, and America needs to be strong enough to save America (that last part got a strong applause line)”.
Other issues Huntsman touched on included the space program (very important in Central Florida), the need for a Balanced-Budget Amendment, and the need for Republican unity. After he was done, the Governor invited Mrs. Huntsman (an Orlando native) up to the microphone. Mrs. Huntsman talked about her husband as a father and how he instilled the value of service in their children. It must be said that Mrs. Huntsman received a bigger applause than the Governor.
Overall, the Governor used this as an opportunity to better introduce himself to Republican activists. It’s probably not a coincidence that on the same day, delegates to the Florida Presidency 5 Straw Poll received literature from the Huntsman campaign. Many of the people I talked to still seemed to be undecided and shopping around for a candidate. These are the type of activists that a candidate needs to start building a campaign. I’m not sure how many people Huntsman recruited to his cause, but he did get the chance to sell himself and his candidacy to Republican activists, and that’s worth something.
July 30th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
How many Orange Countys are there in America?
Thought you meant mine here for a second, the one just south of L.A.
July 30th, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Craig:
According to Wikipedia, there are 8 Orange Counties. They are in CA, FL, IN, NY, NC, TX, VT, and VA.
July 30th, 2011 at 11:30 pm
Looked it up. Wiki (if correct) says there’s these.
Orange County, California
Orange County, Florida
Orange County, Indiana
Orange County, New York
Orange County, North Carolina
Orange County, Texas
Orange County, Vermont
Orange County, Virginia
Jon Huntsman should probably visit them all to get some national id.
July 30th, 2011 at 11:31 pm
You beat me, Jon
July 30th, 2011 at 11:34 pm
The final main theme of his speech was what he called “skepticism of foreign entanglements”. He reiterated his opposition to intervention in Libya and talked dovishly about Afghanistan, saying “only Afghanistan can save Afghanistan. Only Pakistan can save Pakistan, and America needs to be strong enough to save America (that last part got a strong applause line)”.
Amen
July 30th, 2011 at 11:50 pm
Jonathan: Thanks for the report. I could probably support Huntsman if I thought he had a chance, but I just don’t see any way he can do it.
July 30th, 2011 at 11:55 pm
#6:
I think Huntsman will gain some more traction once he’s better known. A good showing in the next debate could help Huntsman take off the same way Bachmann did. His best shot though, I think, is replicating the McCain strategy in New Hampshire. Namely, a bunch of town-hall meetings and spending a lot of time on the ground. NH has tons of independents, and Huntsman’s the type of candidate who could appeal to them. I’d like to say he should do that type of campaign down here, but Florida is just too big for that.
July 31st, 2011 at 12:12 am
7 Jonathan,
Interestingly, Huntsman reportedly plans to do just that: http://race42012.com/2011/06/16/a-preview-of-huntsman-2012/
July 31st, 2011 at 12:16 am
Who is Jon Huntsman??
July 31st, 2011 at 1:23 am
Pity he won’t even reach Florida!
I’m actually starting to feel a bit for T/Paw – or at least his hapless supporters.
July 31st, 2011 at 1:24 am
Sorry that was meant for the T/Paw thread!
July 31st, 2011 at 6:18 am
Huntsman just needs a circuit breaker to get noticed, and Mitt and Perry to fall a bit, and he’s in with a (very rough) show.
July 31st, 2011 at 8:04 am
Jonathan,
Thanks for the write up.
Huntsman is a solid #2 on my write up. He’s a traditional conservative, I trust him on life issues, he has a solid record as gov, the most realistic foreign policy, and isn’t afraid of the talk radio clowns.
July 31st, 2011 at 8:05 am
Slid #2 on my depth chart.
July 31st, 2011 at 8:24 am
Matt “MWS”
Huntsman is my 3#……however, if he starts running ADS in NH ripping ,then Jon will move up to #2 real fast.
July 31st, 2011 at 10:14 am
MWS, talk about gullible.
July 31st, 2011 at 12:15 pm
Ok, Jax, I’ll bite, what was gullible about 13? I’ve seen your previous comments about Huntsman running for Sec of State, not president. What else?
July 31st, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Huntsman is number FIVE in my chart. But I could see him as my number ONE in 2016.
Or a Jeb/Jon Jr 2016 ticket would be ideal
