Jon Huntsman SLAMS Romney For NOT WITHDRAWING Mourdock Endorsement

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Jon Huntsman, former Utah governor and 2012 Republican presidential candidate, said on Thursday that Mitt Romney showed a lack of leadership with his response to Indiana GOP Senate nominee Richard Mourdock's controversial comments on rape and abortion. Romney has refused to withdraw his endorsement of Mourdock and declined to have the campaign ad he filmed for him pulled from TV.



"If I were Romney I simply would have said I'm withdrawing my support," Huntsman said in an interview with HuffPost Live. "Until [Mourdock] proves otherwise, either you lay out an apology, do something else, but as of right now I would withdraw support." Asked by The Huffington Post's Howard Fineman if he would have had the ad taken off air, Huntsman responded, "I would do exactly that."



"I'm here to tell you that there are some independents and swing voters in the middle that I think would respect a candidate who goes against the grain," Huntsman continued. "They're looking for leadership during a time that these kinds of statements are made, as opposed to just the go-with-the-flow kinds of statements we always hear." Huntsman condemned Mourdock's comments, saying they "don't deserve to be part of our political discourse right now." "I cringe -- it's like fingers on a chalkboard every time I hear men talk about women's health issues," he said.




Romney has not directly responded to Mourdock's remark, made during the final Indiana Senate debate Tuesday night, that pregnancies caused by rape are "something that God intended to happen." Democrats immediately seized on the comment, tying it to Romney, his running mate Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), and other GOP candidates.




cont'


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/25/jon-huntsman-mitt-romney-richard-mourdock_n_2017322.html

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[nolabear]

1. There's more than one way to ride a white horse.

[joycejnr]

2. Huntsman: Not a team player. n/t

[DCBob]

3. I think Huntsman is going to endorse President Obama...

within the next few days.

[AspenRose]

4. That would be a surprise

When he was on Colbert it didn't look like he would do that at all. But that was a few months ago.

Guess we'll see.

[DCBob]

5. could be wrong..

I didnt see him on Colbert but from other comments he's made he seems on the brink.

[AspenRose]

13. He did admit that he was Persona Non Grata at the RNC convention

but he said he thought Romney would do well this fall (in Mandarin). He wouldn't go beyond that.

[Nye Bevan]

6. Huntsman is decent, sane and rational.

Which explains why he came in last place in the Republican primary, behind lunatics like Gingrich and Santorum.

[Ratty]

14. Of ALL the candidates

He and Romney were the only ones who were not outright nutcases. He's intelligent and rational, as you say.

Decent? Compared to the rest maybe but don't forget he's still a Republican and still a conservative. Look up his positions if you need to be reminded.

[justiceischeap]

7. Could Huntsman be an endangered species... a sane Republican?

From what I've heard from him and his daughter Abby, they seem to be part of a dying breed... republicans that don't sell their moral beliefs for the sake of the party.

[TeamPooka]

8. looks like Hunstman is already running for 2016

[Common Sense Party]

11. For which party?

He won't win the Republican nomination with that whole sane, sensible schtick of his.

[napkinz]

9. I have a feeling Huntsman is another Charlie Crist

He's too moderate for his party.

I'm surprised he doesn't become an independent and change his support to Obama.

[Bucky]

12. Republican to the bone. He has his eyes on 2016.

It's useless, of course, but he really is a Rockefeller Republican.

[Bucky]

10. There's no reason Romney "needs" to pull his support.

He might sincerely be a pro-rape candidate. If just one more Republican member of Congress joins the movement, they'll actually be big enough to form a pro-rape caucus.