Kathleen Parker‘s latest Newsweek contribution makes the case for former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s presidential bid.
There must be something to the formula. Huntsman had a whopping 90 percent approval rating from Utah voters when he left the governorship in 2009 to become ambassador to China. As governor, he accomplished at the state level many of the policies he hopes to bring to the White House, chiefly a flat tax and other reforms to stimulate business. In Utah, industries such as renewable energy and mining received about $30 million in tax credits. Huntsman also oversaw health-care reform that expanded insurance coverage to children, an “entitlement” that some Republicans have criticized. Davis describes it as “Obamacare and Romneycare done right.” Huntsman plans to defend his record as quintessentially conservative, including measures to protect the environment that included support of cap and trade. Contrary to charges that he has flip-flopped—that ever-handy label usually applied by the nonthinking to the thinking—Huntsman now says that economic changes mean that other priorities, such as job creation, come first.
Cap and trade? Targeted tax breaks for government-selected economic winners? Increased government involvement in the health care sector? Does he believe “quintessentially” is a synonym for “phony”?
