Jon Huntsman withdraws from race to top job

THE path ahead for US presidential hopeful Mitt Romney was cleared of another hurdle yesterday when Jon Huntsman withdrew from the Republican campaign trail and threw his support behind the man who was previously a bitter rival.

Barely four days after declaring that Mr Romney’s policies were making him “completely unelectable” as the Republican candidate for November’s election, Mr Huntsman performed a massive volte-face and praised the former Massachusetts governor’s credentials.

The announcement comes just five days before the crucial South Carolina primary, at which the surging Mr Romney, winner of recent contests in Iowa and New Hampshire, is predicted to all but guarantee his party’s nomination to oppose president Barack Obama.

Mr Huntsman, a Mormon former governor of Utah and a recent US ambassador to China, admitted that his own decision to enter the race had been “the longest of long shots”.

“Today our campaign for the presidency ends but our campaign to build a better and more trustworthy America continues,” he said at a press conference in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

“I believe it is time for our party to unite around the candidate best equipped to beat Barack Obama. Despite our differences, and the space between us on some of the issues, I believe that candidate is governor Mitt Romney.”

Mr Huntsman’s decision became almost inevitable after he finished a distant third behind Mr Romney and Ron Paul in last week’s New Hampshire primary, a contest on which he staked considerable resources.

Mr Huntsman’s social conservative leanings made him less popular than harder-line candidates among Republican voters in the south, and many were critical that he accepted a 2009 invitation from Mr Obama to become US ambassador in Beijing.

While Mr Romney’s immediate prospects are expected to be little affected by Mr Huntsman’s decision, the support of his more moderate former rival’s followers could be valuable in stickier contests to come, particularly in Florida on 31 January if he fails to win South Carolina on Saturday.

It also reduces a once-cluttered field still further, following the announcements in recent weeks by Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann that they were “suspending” their campaigns.

Mr Huntsman called on the five remaining candidates – including Rick Perry, a former governor of Texas, Rick Santorum, a former Senator for Pennsylvania and Newt Gingrich, once speaker of the House of Representatives – to show “a sense of unity and trust”.

He said: “This race has degenerated into an onslaught of negative and personal attacks not worthy of the American people.

“The current toxic form of our political discourse does not help our cause.

“I call on each campaign to cease attacking each other and instead talk directly to the American people about how our conservative ideals will create jobs, reduce our nation’s debt, stabilise energy prices and provide a brighter future for our children and grandchildren.”

The comments raised eyebrows among those who recalled Mr Huntsman’s own attacks on his rivals, particularly Mr Romney. He repeatedly claimed in debates and to journalists that Mr Romney has “no core”, that he “talks about enjoyment in firing people” and that he was becoming “completely unelectable.”

The approach never seemed to gel with voters, who nevertheless appreciated the appearances of Mr Huntsman’s glamorous daughters, Liddy, Abby and Mary Ann, in YouTube appearances as the Jon2012Girls endorsing his campaign.

In only a few months, the girls became arguably more popular than their father, securing almost 700,000 video views and 24,000 Twitter followers compared with the 41,945 votes he won in New Hampshire.

There was speculation that Mr Huntsman’s candidacy was a trial run to gauge popularity for a more serious campaign in 2016. But as analysts have pointed out, such a strategy would rely on the eventual Republican nominee losing to Mr Obama this year.

Jason Johnson, professor of political science at Ohio’s Hiram College, said: “I think we’ll see him ride off into the sunset like so many Republican Party candidates in the past. If Romney wins the election, there is no room for Jon Huntsman in 2016.”

Newt Gingrich, who finished fourth in New Hampshire, was quick to woo Mr Huntsman’s supporters.

“With Governor Huntsman dropping out, we are one step closer to a bold Reagan conservative winning the GOP nomination,” his spokesman said.