PrairiePundit

ABC News: Jon Huntsman will drop out of the Republican presidential race  on Monday, a campaign spokesman told ABC News. A source close to the Huntsman campaign said the former ambassador to China and Utah Governor was “proud of the race that he ran” but “did not want to stand in the way” of rival Mitt Romney, the current front-runner for the Republican nomination. Huntsman plans to endorse Romney at an 11 a.m. press conference Monday in Myrtle Beach, SC. ...  Huntsman had just been endorsed by South Carolina's largest newspaper The State .  They now have time to change their minds, I guess.  I think his chances in South Carolina were remote and he must have had some polling data to confirm that.   The moderate vote will no longer be split in the primary.

Fox has called the race for Mitt Romney, with Paul coming in second and Huntsman third based on the vote of liberals and Democrats.

Boston Globe Editorial: Huntsman Is Best Choice for Republicans This is how the endorsement works.  The liberals pick the least conservative Republican they can find in the selection process and then support the Democrat anyway in the general election.  Pick a squish and then smash him later.  They do not have our best interest at heart.

George Will: Romney and Gingrich, from bad to worse Will gives plenty of reasons to oppose both and says that Perry or Huntsman deserve another look.

Sunday Telegraph: Jon Huntsman may be limping along at the back of the pack in the Republican presidential race with a moderate message that has failed to ignite. But the former ambassador to China does have one surprise hit of the campaign season - a trio of tweeting twenty-something daughters. The mischievous and unfiltered mixture of wit and sarcasm that they have deployed on social media to promote their father's long-odds bid for the White House has often unnerved the candidate himself, never mind his aides. But it has turned them into celebrities in their own right, with a growing following of admirers in an era when most campaigns preach strict message control and vetted talking points. Liddy, 23, a recent graduate hoping to break into fashion, Abby, 25, who works in television and public relations, and Mary Anne, a 26-year-old piano teacher, are volunteering full-time for the Huntsman team. But the stylish siblings - the eldest of seven children - ha...

It is a takeoff on the Cain smoking ad.  They hide their glamour behind fake mustaches and dorky glasses.

It is the first time I have really seen him speak out on the issues.  He needs to do it more if he is going to become a factor in the Presidential contest.

Daniel Henninger looks at Jon Huntsman's interesting journey through several administrations.  He also happens to have a billionaire father who is a world class philanthropist. I question his chances, but he may find a niche as more conservative candidates divide the vote of the Republican base. The piece is worth reading to get a better understanding of how the 2012 race may shape up.

NY Times: Huntsman Steps Into the G.O.P. Vacuum Huntsman is the choice of those who are not going to vote for a Republican anyway.  He is like the McCain of 2000.  Right now he is an * candidate, because his numbers do not even register in the polls.  I will be surprised if he elevates his status out of that category, but he could get some cross over liberal Democrat votes in New Hampshire. He has a tough job to persuade conservative voters to give him a chance.

Cover of Going Rogue: An American Life Jay Costs: ... Today, I want to look at things strictly from the competitiveness metric, and here I think the main contenders -- Jon Huntsman, Tim Pawlenty, and Mitt Romney -- all score very, very well. I see four reasons for drawing this conclusion. 1. Crossover appeal . Huntsman, Pawlenty, and Romney all won statewide elections by performing better than the party normally does in each state. In 2008 Jon Huntsman won 64 percent of the gubernatorial vote in Utah (an improvement on his performance relative to 2004), while John McCain won 62 percent of the presidential vote that same year. Tim Pawlenty won reelection in Minnesota in 2006 narrowly, but this was still an impressive feat considering that Minnesota retains a blue tilt and 2006 was a terrible year for Republicans in general. T-Paw won about 100,000 more votes that the Republican candidates in the 8 Minnesota House districts that year, and 200,000 more votes than Mark Kenne...

Image via Wikipedia Dan Balz: Jon Huntsman Jr. staged a political coming-out party here this weekend with the kind of robust schedule that suggests he is close to becoming a full-fledged candidate for the 2012 Republican nomination. He stepped more gingerly when it came to explaining just where he stands on the issues. There is considerable interest in Huntsman’s prospective presidential candidacy, which befits a truly fresh face in a party where many voters are less than overwhelmed by their choices. But with a fresh face come questions, which Huntsman began to confront as he introduced himself. Two broad concerns could determine his success in the nomination battle. One is: Where does he fit in a Republican Party that moved to the right in the two years since he stepped down as governor of Utah to become President Obama’s ambassador to China? The other: Where does he differ with Obama and how vigorously is he prepared to draw those distinctions as a candidate? Huntsman arriv...