Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman took aim at front-runner Mitt Romney on the eve of the New Hampshire primary and told Larry Kudlow hes the best candidate to unseat President Obama in November.
Huntsman former governor of Utah and U.S. ambassador to China said Romney is making himself completely unelectable" when he makes statements like the one he made earlier Monday about firing people. During a speech to business leaders the former Massachusetts governor said I like being able to fire people who provide services to me" when talking about how people should be able to chose their own health insurance.
Words and statements matter and when you are in a heated campaign" Huntsman said. I just want to make sure we can get somebody who can go up against Barack Obama and not be chewed up by the political machine thats going to have a billion dollars to spend on it."
To take on Obama the candidate has to be able to get more than just Republican votes and Huntsman said hes the man who can deliver.
In order for someone to beat Barack Obama this year theyre going to actually have to convince people who supported Barack Obama last time to support them" he said. If you cant come out of New Hampshire or any other primary state with the Republicans and also a whole lot of independents than were not going to have an electable candidate at the end of the exercise."
Huntsman who skipped the Iowa caucuses last week to focus on New Hampshire is pinning his hopes on a strong showing in the Granite States first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday. While he lags far behind Romney some polls show him moving into third place. According to Mondays Suffolk University tracking poll Huntsman has 13 percent of likely voters supporting him. Romney has 33 percent down from 43 percent one week ago and Rep. Ron Paul is at 20 percent.
Huntsman also took issue with Romneys criticism of his service as ambassador to China under President Obama. During Saturdays debate Romney reprimanded Huntsman for implementing the policies of the Obama administration instead of helping Republicans across the country get elected. But Huntsman said his dedication to his former job should win him favor with voters.
People want a leader who actually believes in putting their country first" Huntsman told Kudlow. And Governor Romney made it very clear yesterday that he believes in putting politics first."
He also disagrees with Romneys stance on penalizing China for currency manipulation.
If he imposes a tariff the first day hes in office as he has threatened to do you will have retaliation immediately on the part of the Chinese and it will result in a trade war" he said. That is an absolutely nonsensical approach to doing business."
While the Chinese arent appreciating their currency at a speed hed like he said the solutions need to be found during negotiations.
But he wouldnt join in the chorus of Republican candidates attacking Romney for his work as a venture capitalist. Instead he thinks the front-runners record as governor is the bigger issue.
They placed 47th in job growth in this country" Huntsman said. He didnt put forward any big bold tax cut proposals he didnt put forward any tax cut offerings to his legislator he didnt do anything big bold and courageous."
Utah on the other hand was number one in job growth delivered a flat tax and reformed health care and education during his tenure Huntsman said.
Whats most germane here is our records as governor he said.
Lawrence Kudlow is host of CNBCs The Kudlow Report" which airs nightly from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman took aim at front-runner Mitt Romney on the eve of the New Hampshire primary and told Larry Kudlow hes the best candidate to unseat President Obama in November.
Huntsman former governor of Utah and U.S. ambassador to China said Romney is making himself completely unelectable" when he makes statements like the one he made earlier Monday about firing people. During a speech to business leaders the former Massachusetts governor said I like being able to fire people who provide services to me" when talking about how people should be able to chose their own health insurance.
Words and statements matter and when you are in a heated campaign" Huntsman said. I just want to make sure we can get somebody who can go up against Barack Obama and not be chewed up by the political machine thats going to have a billion dollars to spend on it."
To take on Obama the candidate has to be able to get more than just Republican votes and Huntsman said hes the man who can deliver.
In order for someone to beat Barack Obama this year theyre going to actually have to convince people who supported Barack Obama last time to support them" he said. If you cant come out of New Hampshire or any other primary state with the Republicans and also a whole lot of independents than were not going to have an electable candidate at the end of the exercise."
Huntsman who skipped the Iowa caucuses last week to focus on New Hampshire is pinning his hopes on a strong showing in the Granite States first-in-the-nation primary Tuesday. While he lags far behind Romney some polls show him moving into third place. According to Mondays Suffolk University tracking poll Huntsman has 13 percent of likely voters supporting him. Romney has 33 percent down from 43 percent one week ago and Rep. Ron Paul is at 20 percent.
Huntsman also took issue with Romneys criticism of his service as ambassador to China under President Obama. During Saturdays debate Romney reprimanded Huntsman for implementing the policies of the Obama administration instead of helping Republicans across the country get elected. But Huntsman said his dedication to his former job should win him favor with voters.
People want a leader who actually believes in putting their country first" Huntsman told Kudlow. And Governor Romney made it very clear yesterday that he believes in putting politics first."
He also disagrees with Romneys stance on penalizing China for currency manipulation.
If he imposes a tariff the first day hes in office as he has threatened to do you will have retaliation immediately on the part of the Chinese and it will result in a trade war" he said. That is an absolutely nonsensical approach to doing business."
While the Chinese arent appreciating their currency at a speed hed like he said the solutions need to be found during negotiations.
But he wouldnt join in the chorus of Republican candidates attacking Romney for his work as a venture capitalist. Instead he thinks the front-runners record as governor is the bigger issue.
They placed 47th in job growth in this country" Huntsman said. He didnt put forward any big bold tax cut proposals he didnt put forward any tax cut offerings to his legislator he didnt do anything big bold and courageous."
Utah on the other hand was number one in job growth delivered a flat tax and reformed health care and education during his tenure Huntsman said.
Whats most germane here is our records as governor he said.
Lawrence Kudlow is host of CNBCs The Kudlow Report" which airs nightly from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m.
