Why Jon Huntsman should reoccupy the governor’s mansion
Word on the street is that former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman may soon be referred to as future Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman.
I haven’t lost my mind, at least that I know of, and I haven’t traded in my ultra-liberal credentials. I am still a bonafide member of the far left and have no plans to change teams.
But I am enough of a pragmatist to understand that even though the current political landscape is furiously unpredictable, the one certainty is that the odds are stacked in favor of the next Utah governor coming from the Republican Party.
I know that if I had the scarlet “R” stitched to my vest, I would be hustling Huntsman to take the gig.
But, even though I am shouting from across that vast political chasm that separates us, I am also hopeful that Huntsman decides to run.
Let’s face it, if ever there was a slam dunk, this is it. He has the name, the money, and the experience.
I covered the 2004 Utah gubernatorial race when Huntsman defeated Scott Matheson by 16 percent. It was one of the few times when the Democrats put up a worthy candidate.
I remember Huntsman’s first meeting with the editorial board of The Spectrum as being unremarkable.
His focus was blurry and he was unpolished, but he was sincere in his desire to improve the lot of his fellow Utahans.
He acknowledged, as he was leaving the meeting, that he was ill-prepared and that next time it would be different.
And it was.
I also remember that campaign as perhaps the most civil I have ever witnessed. Both candidates were gentlemanly, respectful, and courteous whether in debate or private conversation.
I don’t like many politicians. But I liked these guys, and when it came to deciding who the newspaper would endorse, the editorial board was split with my vote being the tiebreaker, a decision our publisher left to me because I had so much interaction with the candidates.
I surprised them by giving my endorsement to Huntsman.
While I was sure Matheson would do a very good job, I was also sure that Huntsman would do a better job.
I was proven right as Huntsman went on to such great accomplishments that when he ran for reelection, he tallied 78 percent of the vote.
Here’s why I like Huntsman, despite our political differences.
First, he is an old-school conservative, which these days is becoming increasingly difficult to find as the switch to Jerry Springer-like Republicanism grows at an alarming rate.
He is intellectually curious. He likes to explore all sides of a solution instead of limiting his options, something that unnerved, I am sure, Utah Republican officials who expected him to simply rubber stamp everything.
He understands the importance of education and fueling the economic engines. This means better pay for teachers, better facilities, and better books. It also means he understands that not all Utah entrepreneurs have deep pockets like his family. That’s why he was active in seeking venture capital to spur the Utah economy, which prospered under his leadership.
He understands that he is not smart enough to grasp everything and is constantly seeking enlightenment, whether in a political, business, or personal manner. I always thought of him as Utah’s Zen Governor.
He has a fierce streak of independence and is a bit of a social and political rebel. He does not take orders from his party, and does not take orders from his church, which holds far too much influence over the governmental decisions in our state. It caused some discomfort among his many supporters, but was proven to be the right course as Huntsman, as I saw him, had a true desire to serve all of the people of Utah. He earned props from me for that.
He is unconventional. As the son of one of the richest and most influential men in the nation, he could have opted for a much different lifestyle. Instead of opulence and leisure, he chose a career of public service where the pay sucks by comparison but the karmic benefits, if you do your job properly, are plentiful.
Most importantly, he has a decency factor, something sorely missing in politics at all levels. If Huntsman isn’t an honest man, he’s buried the bodies so deep that they will never be found.
He won’t play well with progressives on issues like abortion, the wall, healthcare reform, and his inconsistent positions on same-sex marriage.
And he has had a curious relationship with Republican Party muscle guys like President Trump, Mitt Romney, and John McCain.
His relationship with Romney over the years has been tumultuous, dating back to Romney’s being appointed over him to lead the Salt Lake Organizing Committee after scandal enveloped the 2002 Winter Olympics. Still, he was an occasional consultant to Romney during his presidential bids. Expected to be a Romney supporter in 2008, he backed away and became one of his campaigns national co-chairs. After dipping his toe in the 2012 primaries, Huntsman bowed out and gave his support to Romney. In a purely political sense, that means another term as governor would be a good move for Huntsman, who is young enough to have at least a couple more good campaigns in him. And if his earlier inclinations remain, what better jumping-off point to a presidential run that from a governorship?
He was an early endorser of President Trump but cut ties after the infamous “Access Hollywood” scandal.
In 2017, however, he accepted an appointment to serve as U.S. ambassador to Russia, a position I believe he took out of a sense of public service rather than political clout, which would be consistent with what I believe to be his core values.
In fact, there is reason to believe that Huntsman still has major differences with the administration. Many believe, in fact, that he was the anonymous author of a New York Times op-ed titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” a scathing piece that describes how administration insiders are deliberately disobeying the president for the good of the country.
With his experience as ambassador to Singapore, China, and Russia — his current job — and his time as Deputy U.S. Trade Representative, Huntsman would have been a much better Secretary of State than Rex Tillerson, a pawn to Russian special interests.
But I don’t think Huntsman would have lasted in that position. His decency and sense of public service would have set his moral compass on a path back to Utah a lot sooner.
So be prepared to see a familiar face in the capitol.
The viewpoints expressed above are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of The Independent.
How to submit an article, guest opinion piece, or letter to the editor to The Independent
Do you have something to say? Want your voice to be heard by thousands of readers? Send The Independent your letter to the editor or guest opinion piece. All submissions will be considered for publication by our editorial staff. If your letter or editorial is accepted, it will run on suindependent.com, and we’ll promote it through all of our social media channels. We may even decide to include it in our monthly print edition. Just follow our simple submission guidelines and make your voice heard:
—Submissions should be between 300 and 1,500 words.
—Submissions must be sent to editor@infowest.com as a .doc, .docx, .txt, or .rtf file.
—The subject line of the email containing your submission should read “Letter to the editor.”
—Attach your name to both the email and the document file (we don’t run anonymous letters).
—If you have a photo or image you’d like us to use and it’s in .jpg format, at least 1200 X 754 pixels large, and your intellectual property (you own the copyright), feel free to attach it as well, though we reserve the right to choose a different image.
—If you are on Twitter and would like a shout-out when your piece or letter is published, include that in your correspondence and we’ll give you a mention at the time of publication.
