Huntsman Enters Race, Promising Civility

The Associated Press reports:

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman joined the Republican presidential contest on Tuesday, pledging to run a civil campaign and claiming that he and President Barack Obama both love the United States but have different visions of its future.

Huntsman, who until this spring was Obama's ambassador to China, entered the fight for the GOP nomination to take on Obama in 2012 at the same venue President Ronald Reagan formally began his general election campaign in 1980. Huntsman, an aide to Reagan who served in two other Republican administrations, had been expected to join the contest for months.

"This is the hour when we choose our future. I'm Jon Huntsman and I'm running for president of the United States," the silver-haired Huntsman said, with the State of Liberty over his shoulder as a backdrop for a made-for-TV announcement.