Ex-GOP Gov. Jon Huntsman's call for Republicans to rally around Donald Trump and his "nontraditional bloc of supporters" reportedly may run into trouble with some like-minded moderates.
In an
interview with Politico, Huntsman — who was an Obama administration ambassador to China, and a 2012 presidential candidate — declares "we've had enough intraparty fighting. Now's the time to stitch together a winning coalition."
"And it's been clear almost from the beginning that Donald Trump has the ability to assemble a nontraditional bloc of supporters. … The ability to cut across traditional party boundaries — like '80, '92 and 2008 — will be key, and Trump is much better positioned to achieve that."
New York magazine reports, however, "it's had to imagine" the brash front-runner "fitting into" the plans of Huntsman's centrist "No Labels" organization, which aims to create a policy agenda that both Republican and Democratic lawmakers can embrace.
"Is Huntsman telling us Trump is a bipartisan sorta guy who doesn't need to 'move to the center' because he's already there?" writes magazine writer Ed Kilgore.
"Wonder what Huntsman's 2012 chief strategist John Weaver, now in a similar role with [Ohio Gov.] John Kasich, would have to say about that. For that matter, what would Huntsman's fellow China hands think?" he adds.
"Probably nothing positive."
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