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| Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman has finished off his flagging campaign for the Republican nomination by insulting the state of Nevada. |
Did you hear that sound?
It was the echo of a presidential campaign in its death throes.
Worst of all, it's a campaign now destined to die of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the foot.
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman's bid for the GOP nomination has been on life support for weeks. Not only has he failed to become the most popular candidate in the national discussion, he isn't even the most popular Mormon in the race.
Former Utah resident, LDS member, and 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics savior Mitt Romney has bested him in almost every metric.
Huntsman hasn't made any significant gaffes, which in some ways is unfortunate for his campaign because his name and likeness aren't getting any late night exposure during Leno's monologues or Letterman's soliloquies.
He also hasn't done anything significant or noteworthy to elevate himself toward the top of a crowded herd of presidential wannabes.
However, this week he finally made a misstep, compounded by the proverbial insult added to injury, and it's likely to finish him off.
Huntsman made the curious decision to opt out of the televised Republican candidate debate in Las Vegas Oct. 18.
It was odd, because he could have driven from his Utah home to Vegas.
Also, who passes up on free TV face time?
Even sanctimonious Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum figured out how to find Sin City, despite the fact that the nameplate on his podium could have been engraved with "Is HE still in the race?"
His absence was a slight slap in the face to his next door neighbor, but it wasn't like anyone would miss him. It simply meant one less person standing in line at the all-you-can-eat buffet.
Now, Huntsman's exercise in skipping school has been blown into a full-fledged steel-cage death match between him and the Nevada voters, and the candidate himself is the one who picked the fight.
On Thursday, the potential dairy spokesmodel published an Op-Ed piece in New Hampshire's Union Leader newspaper and website [Click Here for article].
Instead of offering up a subtle mea culpa for missing the debate, like he was washing his hair or fell asleep in front of the TV while watching Hannity on Fox News, Huntsman hammered the entire state of Nevada for its gamesmanship over the upcoming primaries. He explained that his "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" from the campaign was actually a boycott of the Silver State.
In the guest editorial, Huntsman ripped Nevada for deciding to move its GOP caucus up to January, just ahead of New Hampshire's primary. Previously, the vote in New Hampshire was the first in the nation.
After flipping Nevadans the bird, he then spit in their eye with some of his remarks.
"At a time when so much of American politics has devolved into slogans and sideshow theatrics, as we've seen in recent debates, Granite Staters demand more. They expect to meet candidates, not through a television ad, but a handshake. They do their homework, examine records, and ask probing questions and tough follow-ups. They're not impressed with slick PR campaigns. They value authenticity and recognize pandering for what it is," Huntsman said in his editorial.
Why didn't he just go ahead and call us a collection of vacuous Ken and Barbie dolls?
He goes on to take a few more backhanded passive-aggressive swipes at what he apparently believes to be the doltish collection of Las Vegas louts while singing the praises of New Hampshire.
There are a lot of reasons for Nevada residents to raise their hackles and sharpen their pitchforks as they pointedly ignore his name in January, but he has actually given all voters across the country two legitimate reasons to go ahead and scratch his name off the list, and that doesn't include the impression that Huntsman's really just a campaign coward afraid of taking on the big boys under a national spotlight.
One, he apparently doesn't own a map; and two, a simple pocket calculator is obviously beyond his skillset.
Take a look at a map of the U.S. If you're into comparing "size" (and Texans like candidates Rick Perry and Ron Paul always are), Nevada is bigger than New Hampshire.
But as wives are constantly reassuring their insecure husbands, size really doesn't matter.
But populations do.
According to the 2010 Census, the population of New Hampshire is 1,316,470. The population of Nevada is 2,700,551. Nearly double. Which means Nevada not only has more potential voters, it represents more ticks on the Electoral College tote board come election time.
Snubbing and insulting one of your neighbors isn't how you win elections, not that the former Utah governor was ever in any danger of taking the top spot on the GOP ballot. After Huntsman's most recent diatribe, Sharron Angle has a better chance of carrying the Nevada Republican vote (and she lost to Harry Reid, one of the most hated politicians in the state and country).
But it's even worse for Huntsman. When the elections are over and he returns to Utah, dragging his whipped tail between his legs the entire trip, he's going to eventually run into a few of his western neighbors. And while Nevadans apparently "don't do their homework" and "don't examine records," there is one thing our Las Vegas Mafia-influenced history has taught us how to do:
Carry a grudge.
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