Jon Huntsman is about to endorse Mitt Romney. But he hasn’t always been so warm-and-fuzzy toward Romney. Huntsman, who endorsed John McCain in 2008, waged a relentless campaign against Romney for most of this cycle. Just check out of some of these past statements:
“What did he [Romney] do for the economy? He didn’t deliver any big, bold economic proposals. I delivered the largest tax cut in the history of my state, a flat tax as well. He delivered health care reform with a mandate. He raised taxes $750 million worth. And he was 47th overall in job creation, I think most importantly, while we were No. 1 in job creation in our state.” (1/11/12, press conference in Columbia, S.C.)
“Gov. Romney enjoys firing people. I enjoy creating jobs.” (1/9/12, on the campaign trail in Concord, N.H.)
“I said he’s [Romney] morphed himself so many times that for many of the voters I think they’re going to find during an election that is based on trust that they’re going to have a hard time getting a bead on where his core is. You run for the senate as a liberal. You run for governor as a moderate. You run for president as a conservative. Where are you at the end of the day? That’s a legitimate question that people have.” (CNN interview, aired 1/8/12)
“I was criticized last night by Governor Romney for putting my country first. And I just want to remind the people here in New Hampshire and throughout the United States that I think… (APPLAUSE) He criticized me while he was out raising money for serving my country in China, yes, under a Democrat, like my two sons are doing in the United States Navy.” (1/8/12, Meet the Press debate.)
“I think he’s [Romney] a good man. I think he’s been on three sides of every major issue of the day. And because of that it’s going to be very tough in the end … to be able to make that trust argument to the American people.” (1/3/12, ABC News interview.)
“Anyone who is in the hip pocket of Wall Street because of all the donations they are picking up, like Mr. Romney, is in these days not going to be the change agent who is going to fix the too-big-to-fail banking system.” (11/28/11, in Merrimack, N.H.)
“You can’t be a perfectly lubricated weather vane on the important issues of the day. Romney has been missing in action in terms of showing any kind of leadership.” (10/28/11, CNN interview)
The DNC assembled even more in a memo, which can be found here. And the Washington Examiner has retrieved some of the web videos the Huntsman campaign made blasting Romney:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=2CEwhxLwO_4