Jon Huntsman Announces Presidential Bid

On paper, Jon Huntsman doesn't look like a bad candidate for Republicans. He is a former Governor and former Ambassador to China. Pretty impressive. However, is Huntsman really the answer that Republicans are looking for?

The answer isn't good for Huntsman. Jon Huntsman will be competing for the moderate Republican position against Mitt Romney and if you look at the polls, there can only be room for one moderate. Huntsman is pro-life, but has no problem with gay marriage. In my personal opinion, I can get on board with that because I don't really care about gay marriage. However, the conservative base will never go for it. Besides, Mitt Romney is already viewed as the moderate out of the group and can out raise Huntsman any day. If the primary voters want a moderate, Romney is their guy.

Huntsman to me seems a little like John McCain. A doomed candidate. The Democrats say they are afraid of Huntsman, but something tells me they aren't too afraid of him. Democrats are more afraid of Rick Perry or Mitt Romney than a Jon Huntsman. Another disadvantage for Huntsman is name I.D., nobody outside of Utah knows him and that's not good in this stage of the game.

I think that Huntsman will bring some good ideas to the mix, but will come up short in the GOP race. However, a shot at VP isn't too out of the question. He's a fiscal conservative and moderate on the issues, which isn't bad but won't play well in this GOP primary season it seems.

What are your thoughts on Jon Huntsman?