He is running officially and is probably the dark horse candidate. This is probably the first time ( and maybe the only time LOL) someone I have met and worked for directly is running for President. Even a few years back while at Beijing the rumors were already flying if he was going to run or not and was considered a badly kept secret. Out of all of the currently declared candidates, he is the most down to earth and that seems to set him apart. Not the same ole same ole as the rest of the pack. He also crosses party lines on quite a few issues, which no doubt will piss many of his fellow Repubs off.

The thing is, he is fiscally responsible, having done a fine job of governorship of Utah. He has extensive dealings with the Chinese which will be a huge part of foreign policy for the next 25-50 years. He is the son of a self made billionaire so he might understand the value of a buck. That and he is a decent person who is loyal to his huge family (including adopted kids from Asia). Oh and his wife is smok'n.

I don't think he is a warrior President if he gets elected but then again, the country has had its fill of that that. What we need is a business man who also can recognize the needs of the little guy while hopefully keeping the big picture in line. I have a feeling that the press is going to turn him and his family into a phenomenon and once the world gets to know him, it will be hard to not like him, Mormon or not. The only kicker is what kind of a platform is he going to run on which is not apparent yet. Any thoughts on this guy?

If the GOP establishment likes him, they'll probably groom him up crazy for 2016.

Malse, you talk as if Obama's second term is a shoe in. Its not. He is doing an OK job, but if someone offers something better, than the voter will bite. Guaranteed. In fact, people might want a Republican President to release the deadlock in the government about debt reduction and other domestic issues. Granted, not everything that will come of it will be what people want, but things are not looking very promising for the long run in terms of the government's finances. Either the current administration has to break the deadlock or the public may have to vote in someone who will work with the agenda of Congress due to it being of shared ideology. Either way the days of reckless abandon are over and someone has to be wise up as well as man up and start making the tough decisions.

It all depends on what he can offer to the public though IMHO and how he goes about implementing the touch decisions. This guy is loaded, so he doesn't really need the GOP's backing as far as money. That means he could ruffle a few feathers and not care too much about it. If he can sell something tangible to the voters other than " I am not Obama" who almost ran on the " I am not George W. Bush" as his only gimmick than he really could get somewhere.

For either side, the VOTER is who needs to be sold at this point, not the party wonks. People are sick of the bickering and the disconnect with their elected officials. If he has a strong showing with the people in that if" You vote Obama out and put me in", and there will be results you can take home to the family than he can win the nomination in spite of not toeing the party line. People don't want the party line AKA the same old shit. People want results. Its really that simple.

He's not conservative enough for the Republicans. Needs to be more "mavericky".

Obama will win again, no mormon from Utah will beat him.

Well, for me it is a question of do I want to vote for another four years of monkey shit fights in 2012? The ideology means very little to me. I don't give a rat's ass about most things our government gets deadlocked on as far as social issues go. If our elected officials can finally get down to working together and not having puppet side show distractions always take center stage to mask the lack of ability to work together, than maybe Obama deserves 4 more years. Some of us vote based on what gets the job done and not whether they are the jackass or the elephant in the room.

The problem is, it doesn't matter who is in the Whitehouse...the deadlock will be there. It's not about issues, it's about power, control and money.....and both parties are equally corrupt. Even if huntsman had these great bipartisan solutions, the democrats would fight him....just as the GOP would fight any good ideas a democrat would have. The parties no longer care what is good for the country, it's more important to them what is good for their party and corporate interests.

thus..... http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/154582/debate-2004 Have to see how this all plays out. If the general theory pans out that it doesn't matter than "go vote" will not be on my check list of things to get done for November 6th 2012.

There are some Republican candidates that I would be very happy to vote for over Obama, but the main thing standing in my way is that a moderate Republican candidate never will have the balls to veto some of the bat shit crazy right wing pieces of legislation to come out of Congress no matter if they disagreed with them or not, for fear of upsetting their party.

I like things much better with a split Legislative / Executive branch.