Reading Jon Huntsman's new-found equivocation on climate change reminded me of Bill Clinton's flexible definition of the word "is." There's just no way you can be a politician and keep your soul from rotting. But hey, at that level of the game, how much soul can they have left? So why has Huntsman suddenly become squishy on climate science? I think James Fallows pretty much gets it here:
And remember back when Jon Huntsman bragged about his "call me crazy" status for believing scientists about climate change? Ah, those were the days -- before he apparently sensed that his chance for the Bachmann->Perry->Cain->Newt->??? conservative vote might be at hand.
Yes, it appears that Huntsman thinks his turn in the very fluid Republican contest will come after the inevitable Newt flameout. So instead of positioning himself as the sane Republican in 2016, he's gambling what's left of his soul on the fickleness of conservative primary voters in 2012. What a shame, if not a surprise. The only thing that's missing is a tweet from Rick Perry to Huntsman, saying: "Welcome to crazyville. What took you so long?"
