On Tuesday Jon Huntsman will announce his candidacy for president in Liberty State Park in front of the Statue of Liberty. With unemployment at 9.1 percent, and no president having won re-election to the presidency since Franklin Delano Roosevelt with unemployment higher than 7.2 percent (Ronald Reagan was at 7.2 percent), Jon Huntsman will be running against Mitt Romney before he starts running against Barack Obama. Let me explain why.
As of now, both Obama and Huntsman have uphill battles. Obama has to explain to the American public why high unemployment and continued poor economic numbers (unemployment was at 7.7 percent when he took office) should not cost him his job. Huntsman must explain to the American people why he can be the anti-Romney. Often times in the Republican field, as differentiated from the Democratic field, front-runners in the primary process (for example, through averages of polls) end up winning. One reason I have not previously stated this: there has not been a clear front-runner as of yet. True, Romney has held a lead. But with shifts of potential candidates potentially entering the race (Trump, Huckabee, Palin, etc.), Romney has not stood alone -- until now.
So why does Huntsman matter?
He and Mitt Romney are the only Republican candidates who can go all the way to November. Tim Pawlenty has a chance but is less likely of doing so; even if he does, I do not believe that he has the charisma for an election night victory against Obama.
As I have previously written: only Huntsman or Romney has the potential (and it is just potential remember) to beat Obama. And as I have written for months, watch Huntsman. On Tuesday, the race really begins.
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