Hi all,
The general consensus is that Huntsman will drop out of the race, perhaps the very day you read the words I am writing.
Note: There is a delay from when I write these columns to when they publish on Mondays. Usually these are written Saturday or sometimes Sunday, it really depends on what I have going over the weekend. Currently I am shaking my head at the beating the Broncos just received (Tebow will be a force next year people), so if the announcement comes out before the publishing on this blog, well... sorry.
Anyway, the big questions are A) "Will Huntsman endorse someone?" and B) "If so, who will Huntsman endorse?"
The answers are pretty obvious.
A) Yes, Huntsman will endorse someone.
Huntsman has well and truly burnt his bridges with his previous employer, Barack Obama, by running for President as a Republican. Huntsman has to earn a favor or two by endorsing. He needs a job, period, end of story.
B) Huntsman will endorse Romney.
Newt, Perry & Santorum continue to split the conservative vote & fundraising. So long as all of them stay in the race, Romney has a clear path to winning the nomination. It is the safe bet for Huntsman, best bang for the buck and all that.
I should probably point out that Huntsman was always dismissive of the conservative base, so he actually only took votes from Romney's base of moderate and liberal Republican's. The endorsement isn't worth much to Romney other than getting those votes back into the fold, and even if they were to split among the candidates in total (won't happen) it would be to Romney's benefit.
Again, this assumes that Newt, Perry & Santorum continue to split the conservatives. Ah, but if one or more of them dropped out? It would electrify and focus the anti-Romney opposition and this would be a competitive race again. Who should drop out? More importantly, who would be willing to drop out in the first place?
Lets briefly look at each:
1) Santorum's boomlet is already done, and he can't win the general in any event. Will he drop out early to keep Romney from walking away with this? I doubt it. Way to much ego. By the time he drops out it will likely be too late. Side note: Of all the candidates he is the one who should drop as he has little cash or experience. Lacking one or the other is fine, but lacking both is asking to get creamed.
2) Perry is damaged but has the cash to spend -- in buckets. Will he drop out to help stop Romney? Believe it or not, he might. Perry is actually a decent person and reasonably clear-headed, if a poor speaker. Romney winning would stick in his craw.
3) Newt has the experience, but would he drop out? Depends on if he is still running for President or just punching Romney. If he still wants to win, he will stay in as long as he can -- that is his DNA. If it's all about counter-punching for the Iowa mugging he received from Romney's dirty trick squad, he'll get tired of punching eventually and would probably drop in time to help one of the "not Romney" candidates.
We'll see.
It is truly sad to realize that we are witnessing Bob Dole Part II take place, and absent a brokered convention, our only hope is that one or more of the candidates go away. This is what happens when the establishment nukes your best and brightest and make no mistake, that is what happened. Worse, we let them do it.
Now all we can do is wonder what could have been.
Miss her yet?