Huntsman’s last stand
Jon Huntsman has 72 hours to prevent a devastating loss in New Hampshire. In my view, he has three main problems:
He is perceived as Romney’s stunt double. People don’t really know the difference between them.
His name recognition isn’t high enough. A significant number of people in New Hampshire (let alone the rest of the country) still don’t know who he is. I know this from firsthand experience.
His campaign doesn’t have a clearly defined message. Huntsman is the “moderate” candidate, but also the “consistent conservative.” He comes out in favor of evolution and global warming but stops short of positioning himself as the most rational contender in the field. He’s just like Romney but doesn’t flip flop. Huntsman needs something more compelling than these confusing and contradictory points if he wants to win.
With so little time (and so little money) left in the race, he only has one option: Go viral. The #jon2012girls effort was a step in the right direction, but he needs something even bigger.
Here are a few ideas:
abitnippy is right in that Huntsman is a Romney stunt double. Their places on the ideological spectrum are similar, except that people know Romney better. Romney also has more money and arguably more experience in politics. Huntsman is having trouble beating Romney as his own game. If Huntsman wants a shot he definitely needs to be more aggressive and take calculated risks, but I some of these suggestions are extreme.
Even better would be to make them snarky and appeal to younger voters: “Jon Huntsman. Because every other candidate sucks.”
This is a horrible, horrible idea. Jon Huntsman should not hope for younger voters to push him over the edge. He has a problem with older voters, and a snarky ad campaign would not help to attract them. In fact, it will only work to deter them from voting.
Based on a Public Policy Poll conducted from December 16-18th, 64% of voters age 46-65 and 75% of voters over age 65 have a positive impression of Romney, whereas for Huntsman it is 51% and 46% respectively. This is a difference of 13% and 29% - huge.
In 2008, only 14% of GOP Primary voters were under age 30, while 49% were over age 50. There’s no reason to expect that these youth numbers will top those set in 2008. Even on the Democratic side, where we experienced a high water mark for young voter engagement, voters under 30 were only 18% of the vote.
Huntsman needs to attract senior votes. I think the idea of painting the other candidates as extreme and going with something along the lines of the “call me crazy” theme is good for New Hampshire. But if he tries to be “cool” and snarky, he’ll almost definitely lose. He needs seniors and he needs to show them the downsides of a Romney candidacy.
GOP Debate Shorthand Commentary
I think Ezra Klein’s tweet summed it up well:
Romney: Came in line with expectations, probably seemed the most presidential on the stage and had a commanding tenor and presence. He’s the guy to beat, and he was afraid to act it.
Pawlenty: Underperformed. Should have backed-up his claim about Obamneycare but didn’t do it well.
Bachmann: Exceeded expectations. Seems like less of an extreme and definitely seems like she can capture and generate enthusiasm from the GOP base. Watch her.
Paul: He’s Ron Paul. He did what Ron Paul does. Played to his base just fine, but he’s not going anywhere.
Gingrich: I thought he left politics 15 years ago?
Santorum and Cain: Afterthoughts of the debate.
