Huntsman Re-Endorses Ryan Plan

POLITICO reports:

A Democratic source sends over this video of Jon Huntsman in Pinellas County, Fla., bear-hugging Paul Ryan's budget plan and joking about Florida Democrats referring to the plan — and his support for it — as "radical."

"I was called a radical because I’ve embraced the Ryan plan. Now if you take a look at the Ryan plan, there’s some pretty good fixes and solutions here," said Huntsman, who endorsed the plan in a Wall Street Journal op-ed months ago. "All I can say is, ah, guilty as charged."

That embrace of the Ryan plan may be the one way in which Huntsman's run solidly to the right of the other establishment GOP candidates. Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney only gave tentative support to the Ryan budget and said they'd put forward their own proposals for debt reduction.

Huntsman's re-endorsement of the Ryan plan stands out even more because of his aversion to conservative orthodoxy and hard-line rhetoric — which was also on display in Florida, as he predicted "cooler heads will prevail" in the debt ceiling debate.