Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman says the New Hampshire Union Leader’s endorsement of Newt Gingrich today reflects the topsy-turvy nature of the 2012 election.
“I think it reflects more than anything else the fluidity, the unpredictability of the race right now,” Hunstman said today on “Fox News Sunday.” “A month ago, for Newt Gingrich to have been in the running to capture the Manchester Union Leader endorsement would have been unthinkable.”
The Utah governor, who is campaigning in New Hampshire this weekend, acknowledges that he’s an underdog, trailing in the polls. But he said he is confident he will win the Granite State, which will trickle down and lead to wins in South Carolina and Florida.
“I like our position,” he said.
Regarding the economy, Huntsman said he favors Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget package and believes in overhauling the tax code.
“I think the supercommittee is a joke,” he said of its failed goal to cut $1.2 trillion from the budget over 10 years. “That’s not even a serious attempt at all.”
When asked about the situation in Pakistan, which ordered a U.S. military base to be closed following a deadly NATO airstrike, the former ambassador to China said the government might have to revisit its relationship with the Middle East country.
“The politics playing out domestically in Pakistan are very complicated,” he said.
America should lower its expectations as to the “transactional relationship” it has with Pakistan and look for a new partner in the region.
“We’ve thought we could get more [out of the relationship], and we’ve been proven wrong time and time again,” he said.
Host Chris Wallace asked Huntsman about his moderate viewpoints and how the Republic Party might perceive them. He answered that he remains pro-life, pro-Second Amendment, and pro-growth.
“I’m not going to contort myself into a pretzel and become something that I am not,” he said. “I am running as a Republican, and I will support the Republican nominee.”
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