Texas Congressman Ron Paul, a favorite of the libertarians in the Republican Party, scored a major triumph at the weekend Republican Leadership Conference in New Orleans, by winning the straw poll conducted by the group.
Of course, that does not translate into realistic support for the nomination of his party, which overwhelmingly disagrees with much of what he advocates.
But more interesting is the fact that former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, recently Barack Obama’s Ambassador to China, who did not attend the conference and is an unannounced candidate for President until early in this upcoming week, ended up a solid second in the polling!
Huntsman seems to be the favorite of the so called “establishment” wing of the party, and had a recent meeting with President George H. W. Bush, who seems to be impressed with Huntsman.
So although still not well known, it becomes more apparent that Huntsman is seen now as the major competitor to front runner Mitt Romney for the Presidential nomination, a thought that has been expressed by the author numerous times!