This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Jon Huntsman Sr. said Friday he doesn't recognize the right wing of the Republican Party anymore and believes his son, a candidate for the GOP nomination, is being hamstrung by the party's continued drift to the far right.
"I think the standard Republican, independent and Democrat — they understand Jon Jr. very well. I think he could win any of their votes," Huntsman Sr. said. "When you get over to the far right, it's a different party and I don't know that they're the Republican Party or not."
The elder Huntsman made the comments after a dedication ceremony for the $100 million expansion of the Huntsman Cancer Institute.
And his son did little to distance himself from those comments, praising his father's work in the Nixon Administration's War on Cancer in 1971, "back when Republicans apparently believed in science."
He also backed away from his GOP presidential rivals' views on the Occupy Wall Street movement, saying he "sympathized" with some of the protesters' concerns about just a few large banks having too much influence on the economy.
"When you have six banks that collectively have reserves that equal 66 percent of our nation's GDP when, just a few short years ago, it was 20 percent of our nation's GDP and if any one of them fails, we all go down?" Huntsman said "That's not sustainable."
But it's that kind of open-to-different-viewpoints attitude that has posed problems for the former Utah governor, who also supports civil unions for gay couples and believes in the science of climate change.
His polling numbers have remained dismal nationally, but he said his numbers have crept up in New Hampshire.
In the latest CNN/Time poll, Huntsman was at 6 percent — above Texas Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn. and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum. However, he trails Mitt Romney, former Godfather's Pizza CEO Herman Cain and U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Texas — all by double digits.
"We've gone from the margin of error candidate — zero — to low double digits," Huntsman said. "I like our position, but more than that, I like the way we're connecting with the people in New Hampshire."
He is continuing to work that area hard, even boycotting a recent debate in Nevada to protest its attempt to jump ahead of the Granite State in the primary line, and hosting a tele-town hall conference from Utah on Thursday with voters in New Hampshire. He plans to return to New Hampshire on Saturday and, when asked if he would pull out before the primary said, "that's not even an option."
Matthew Burbank, associate professor of political science at the University of Utah, said it's really Huntsman's only play given primary voters in New Hampshire can be made up of both Republicans and independents.
"It's a much more appealing mix for him," Burbank said. "And New Hampshire is known for being fiscally conservative, not socially conservative, which for him is also more appealing."
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who attended the dedication ceremony, said Huntsman has acquitted himself well in the race but he said he is already backing Romney — whom Huntsman derisively referred to as "a well-lubricated weather vane."
The six-term senator said, however, he believed Romney was the only candidate who could beat President Barack Obama, saying the incumbent "is charismatic, charming, handsome, intelligent and articulate. But wrong on just about everything."
Huntsman Sr. said he was still concerned about the base of the Republican Party and what he saw as an unflinching and uncompromising ideology that put his son at a disadvantage. He said with China as the nation's primary economic partner and competitor, Americans should want someone with Huntsman Jr.'s experience as ambassador to China.
"Americans don't seem to be paying attention and yet, they basically own America," Huntsman Sr. said. "Somebody had better pay attention to our landlord."
Twitter: @davemontero