The Republican Presidential Campaigns: Why is Jon Huntsman not getting more attention?

We here at People Liking People have been keeping an eye on the Republican primary presidential campaigns. It seems like every week there's a new front runner, and it almost feels like a game of musical chairs. Early on the focus was on Donald Trump, then it turned out the whole thing was a publicity stunt (shame on you all who actually fell for it). Mitt Romney has long been seen as being the most presidential and the one having the best chance at beating Obama. But to this day it seems a big share of the conservative base is having trouble rallying behind him. His level of support has been the most consistent of all the candidates though, for better or worse. Michele Bachmann and Herman Cain have both had their moments where it looked like they were the new front runner, and now Newt Gingrich is in that spotlight. And of course there is Ron Paul, who has a very strong support base but will have a hard time crossing into mainstream status. Oh and Rick Santorum...yawn. Look for him to be out of the race soon, along with Bachmann.

There is one candidate whose experience is very solid and he has carried himself quite well in the debates, but for some reason or another has not gained the attention and support of the media or the conservative base, which is becoming puzzling for us because he seems like one of the more solid candidates. That candidate is Jon Huntsman. He gets much less speaking time during the debates than most of the other candidates and you rarely hear his named tossed around seriously as having a real chance. But why is this? Let's look at Jon Huntsman's experience:

- Executive of the Huntsman Corporation (a chemical company)
- United States Trade Representative
- Ambassador to China
- Governor of Utah



Huntsman is arguably the most moderate of all the candidates, which is probably why there's not much excitement behind him within the conservative base. He's somewhat like Romney, except with Huntsman we get the feeling he stands by his positions, whereas with Romney he has a history of flipflopping on almost every issue (abortion and universal healthcare, for example).

We're making a prediction here: Newt Gingrich will be in the lead for the next few weeks and it'll seem like he'll end up being the guy. But that will also come with increased scrutiny and people will begin to reconsider if he's really the one they want as the Republican nominee. When the excitement over Gingrich begins to fade and people look back over the list of candidates to make sure there wasn't anyone better that was overlooked, they'll discover Huntsman - and it'll be just in time for the primary elections.