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Jon Huntsman, grown-up

I don’t agree with Jon Huntsman about some things, but the man seems to be able to talk about issues intelligently and without pandering. Read this interview with AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis. Excerpts: Should we do anything to alter our trading relationship with China, or better to focus first on getting our own economic house in […]

I don’t agree with Jon Huntsman about some things, but the man seems to be able to talk about issues intelligently and without pandering. Read this interview with AEI’s Jim Pethokoukis. Excerpts:

Should we do anything to alter our trading relationship with China, or better to focus first on getting our own economic house in order?

The Chinese do respect economic strength and they know we are hobbled today, we are in a hole. And until we get out of the hole and start paying down the debt and flexing some of our economic muscle once again, we’re not going to have the leverage at the negotiating table that we had in days past.

My first trip to China, I went with Ronald Reagan in the ‘80s when I worked on his staff. And I watched him with great confidence go on Chinese television and speak to the people of China, something they don’t even allow today, to show how fearful they are of western influences from charismatic western leaders. And we were riding very, very high. President Reagan was there to sign the Most Favored Nation treaty with the Chinese. And I compare and contrast that to one of my last sit-down meetings with [China’s] minister of commerce. And he turned to me at the end the meeting and he said, “Please don’t let your people in America lose their confidence because when you lose your confidence we all suffer.” And I thought, “This is a surreal moment. To have the Chinese reminding an American envoy that we need to keep up our confidence, the most confident, optimistic, can-do country the world has ever known?” It was a sad moment for me.

Fixing our economy (which has to include major banking reform and serious reforms to minimize crony capitalism) and intelligently managing our relationship with China are the two biggest issues facing our country. Seems to me like Huntsman is the GOP candidate best positioned to do that. As much as I like Ron Paul, he’s not going to be the next president. Huntsman easily could be. Did you read Michael Brendan Dougherty’s excellent TAC profile of Huntsman? He’s not Ron Paul on foreign policy, but he’s the most Paul-like of the candidates who would stand an excellent chance of beating Obama. From MBD’s piece:

But where Huntsman really contrasts with his opponents is on foreign policy. In a field where some Republicans are chastising Obama for being weak, Huntsman hits his former boss for being reckless. “I look at Libya, there is no defined goal, no defined national security interest, no exit strategy and I say, ‘Why do we want to be involved?’” he told his Dartmouth audience in late July. Ayres says that Huntsman isn’t about withdrawing from the world stage but reorienting our policy: “Why do we have so many military bases in Japan, we’re half a century after World War II? Why so many in Germany? Does it make sense for America to remain in these places?” Huntsman believes that other candidates are kidding themselves if they think defense budgets should be off the table when discussing the nation’s overspending.

Huntsman is most anxious about changing the mission in Afghanistan, America’s longest war. In a recent speech he leveled with the crowd: “It’s time to recognize the reality of what we’re up against in Afghanistan. It isn’t a nation-building exercise, it’s counter-terror [that we need],” he said, “You don’t need 100,000 boots on the ground and the expenses that it carries. You need intelligence-gathering capability, a special-forces presence, and help training the Afghan-national troops.”

He can be blunt about the limits of American power. On a recent campaign stop he said flatly, “I’m here to tell you folks, we can’t do a damn thing about Pakistan. Only Pakistan can save Pakistan.”

Huntsman told the biannual conference of College Republicans in July that one of the four keys to the 2012 election was that “Republicans had to rethink foreign entanglements.” He describes himself as a realist and says the “number one priority” of American foreign policy needs to be “rebuilding our core at home.” By that he means growing our economy long term and creating a market where America can be a major industrial power again.

“I might sound like an isolationist, but I am not,” he told me, before punching back at his hawkish critics. “They haven’t been on the other side of the negotiating table with the Chinese,” he says coolly. “They clearly haven’t felt our diminished leverage in the international marketplace because of our weak core here at home. They clearly haven’t read the history about the end of empires where you have a diminution in values, you have a society that becomes bankrupt with debt, and overreaching abroad. It’s the same three or four things that have brought an end to any empire.”

Huntsman’s delivery in giving foreign policy answers is extremely fluid. That is, until he is asked to describe how he evaluated Bush’s Iraq War when it was launched and how he views it now. The flow of words stops in an embarrassed sigh.

“Listen, I don’t want to re-litigate the Iraq War,” he says, admitting that he wishes to simply get past this question. “I visited [Iraq] three times as governor, and I’m very, very proud of all our troops in the National Guard. I was their commander in chief. And to this day, all I can say is that I’m grateful for the role that they played and the sacrifices they made, including families who lost and made the ultimate sacrifice. I’ll say no more.”

For a man running as the candidate most competent and knowledgeable about foreign policy, this is a hell of a punt. It is also a diplomatic dodge because there is no honest assessment that could be accepted by voters.

Read the whole thing. The headline describes Huntsman as the “no-drama conservative.” He can’t get arrested. Newt Gingrich, the all-drama conservative, is the favorite. ::::::Teeth-gritting sound:::::

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