Most Americans look for pretty much the same basic attributes in their political leaders: intelligence, self-assurance, imagination, personal integrity, competency, independence from seen and unseen forces, and a listening ear.
Some of the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012 have some of those qualities, but none more so than Jon Huntsman.
His principal qualifying distinctions include a boldness in economic policy that belies his temperate personal demeanor and a belief that the country’s divisions cannot be closed by bulldozers moving in only one direction. His appeal is enhanced by hands-on experience in international affairs, principally involving China, that’s entirely lacking in every other Republican whose name will be on the presidential primary ballot on Jan. 10.
For these and other reasons, the former Utah governor and ambassador merits support from Republicans and independents voting in the Republican primary — this in a state that is more libertarian than conservative, more open-minded than ideological and more tolerant than mean.
On matters of national policy, Huntsman can’t easily be pigeon-holed. His wide-ranging tax reform plan, including a ridding of loopholes and other special treatments in favor of lower overall tax rates, won plaudits from The Wall Street Journal. His belief that banks should be limited in size should appeal to Wall Street occupiers, among other interests. His commitment to means-test Social Security and Medicare meets the demands of a bipartisan deficit-reduction commission last year. And his support of government spending controls should interest tea party activists.
Meanwhile, he supports compassionate and wise reforms of immigration policy: While backing border controls, he also endorsed the DREAM Act to grant a path to citizenship for undocumented young people brought to the United States by their parents. In education, he says he would work to expand public schooling options, raise standards of early-childhood education and encourage better pay for teachers; some of his competitors focus only on abolishing the federal Department of Education.
By any measure, Huntsman is conservative, but he demonstrates a constructive capacity for flexibility and nuance. Unlike most other major candidates, he refuses to sign pledges that would rigidly commit himself to absolutist policy. His position on abortion — he’s against it, but would allow for exceptions in cases of rape, incest or the necessity to save the life of the mother — lines up with general public inclinations. He also endorses civil unions, a social reform that most Americans have come to understand won’t destroy the country.
To be sure, there are areas where Huntsman’s flexibility is not all that reassuring. For example, he once backed the idea of requiring everyone to have health insurance — a key feature of the current health care reform law — but no longer feels that way. In that conclusion he is no different from his Republican competitors.
But he is different in other ways. He stands apart from those whose approach to the fastest growing economic power in the world — China — is strictly punitive. He, instead, would use his vast knowledge of that country and its leaders to try to win concessions, avoid trade wars and build productive relations.
And his record as Utah governor proves that he is capable of working with political opposites, which is critical in a time of intractable political and ideological gridlock..
In all this, Jon Huntsman stands above his competitors for the nod to face Barack Obama next November, and merits a good look by voters tired of the GOP’s campaign follies so far.
