The chief argument for it is that Huntsman has a moderate image that will attract independent voters who are put off by the Republican party’s association with extremism, intolerance, and incivility. On this point, I think Michelle Malkin’s concluding paragraph is dead on: If Huntsman were to win the nomination, all of the coverage about his moderation would disappear. His support for civil unions would help him precisely as much as John McCain’s opposition to a Federal Marriage Amendment and support for federally-funded embryonic stem-cell research helped him, which is to say, not at all. He would be attacked the same way any other tax-cutting, entitlement-slashing pro-lifer would be.