Can Huntsman Strike Gold With Young Voters?
Tomorrow I’ll be getting on a bus in D.C. and heading to Liberty State Park to observe Jon Huntsman’s announcement of his Presidential campaign. I'll be traveling with a bunch of other excited young Huntsman supporters: I’m 21-years old, a rising senior at the University of Georgia, and I feel that I speak for many in my demographic when I say we want to see a smart, open-minded candidate for President. After months of anticipation, we’ll finally get to see what Team Huntsman is all about -- and there’s a great deal to be seen.
The first thing that might appeal to many young voters is the oomph! in Huntsman’s background. He dropped out of high school to play in a rock band called Wizard and in 2005 joined REO Speedwagon in a concert to play piano. His favorite hobby is motocross. And while he looks very Presidential, he comes off just as “cool” as Obama. This latter bit probably isn’t the best resume-builder in the professional realm, but it's important in appealing to the youth-vote.
When most people my age hear about the unemployment rate hovering at around 10 percent, we wonder how we’ll fare with our new college degrees. While many adults deal with this more harshly than we do, I’ve spent almost my entire life being educated so that I could get a decent job after college. The economy is at the top of the ticket for people like me. Then we hear about how Utah has one of the lowest unemployment figures in the country, and that the state’s economy has grown by about 3.5 percent over the last five years. Huntsman was the governor of Utah from 2005 to 2009, and he is greatly credited with its economic successes. He even has a reputation for having close business contacts from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to Wal-Mart. This is exactly the kind of candidate I’ve been waiting for since the Great Recession began.
Not only this, but he brings a slightly different breed of experience to the table than the other candidates. Many other candidates are former governors or legislators, but Huntsman has been an ambassador in the Far East twice -- once to Singapore and most recently to China (not to mention he speaks Mandarin and Hoklo fluently). And considering China will most likely have the largest economy in the world soon, this is invaluable experience. I get tired of hearing the same names and resumes on the stump, and Huntsman brings something new and inspiring to the race.
In my eyes, he is more electable than any of the others. People like Cain and Bachmann have trouble connecting with the values of young voters; Huntsman strikes a much more moderate tone with social issues. In the past he has done a great deal for civil unions in Utah, and while I may be ambivalent on the subject, so many of my age are not. He has even supported environmentally friendly policies in Utah without burdening the state economy. Many young Republicans are splitting with their older contemporaries on these very issues, and I think Huntsman’s support for them will grab independent swing votes.
Huntsman is something new, fresh, and exciting for people like me. His contrast with the other candidates makes him all the more attractive to voters who have yet to be enthused with the current field. I assume after tomorrow’s announcement he will begin an aggressive primary campaign in New Hampshire that could possibly be a major upset.