Among the many potential candidates for the Republican nomination in 2016, perhaps the candidate with the most appeal to independents and disaffected Democrats is Jon Huntsman. He has earned some
light coverage regarding a potential presidential bid, but perhaps the greatest sign that Huntsman plans to stay in politics is his
establishment of the Red Rock PAC which he hopes to use to support moderate Republicans willing to work across the aisle.
However, looking at Huntsman's political positions it becomes clear why he only gained 1% of the vote in the 2012 Iowa caucuses.
-In the 2012 election he infamously tweeted- "To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy."
-In one of the debates he stated that "As long as we have banks that are "too big to fail" in this country, we are going to catch the contagion and it's going to hurt us. We have got to get back to a day and age where we have properly sized banks and financial institutions"
-He believes corporations are not people
-He believes that waterboarding is torture
-He believes congress should cap greenhouse emissions and signed on to a regional cap and trade plan as governor
-He supported increasing the federal minimum wage
-He supported the DREAM act and vetoed a bill that would have denied illegal immigrants in-state tuition
Since then he has hardly endeared himself to the Republican base, signing an amicus brief in favor of gay marriage and courageously defending Susan Rice at the high of the Benghazi 'scandal'.
Though Huntsman is far from perfect- he favors eliminating the capital gains tax, established a flat tax as governor, and holds traditional conservative positions on healthcare, gun control, and abortion- his entry would certainly spice up a far right field that will likely include Rand Paul, who not so long ago questioned whether the federal government should regulate discrimination by private businesses, Paul Ryan, whose budget would slash funding for special education and Meals-on-Wheels, and... what's the third one... Oops.
In all seriousness though, in the not unlikely event that most of the other Republican candidates spectacularly self implode, as happened in 2012, Huntsman might have a shot at the nomination, and if Democrats do not seize the middle, the Presidency.