Unloved Moderate Mormon Millionaire Dropping Out of GOP Race

Citing widespread evidence that Republicans don't love him because he would basically govern like Barack Obama, an unloved moderate Mormon millionaire will drop out of the Republican presidential contest today. Despite many endorsements, lots of money, a handsome appearance and an attractive family of preppy white people, the candidate has never been embraced by GOP primary voters -- in large part because he believes in the wrong American Jesus. The candidate will endorse theotherunloved moderate Mormon millionaire currently doing better in the caucus/primary tally.

The Los Angeles Timesreports:  

Jon Huntsman Jr. will end his run for the Republican presidential nomination and endorse longtime rival Mitt Romney on Monday, a Huntsman campaign source said Sunday night.

Huntsman, a former Utah governor, quit his post last year as President Obama's ambassador to China to make a surprise entry into the 2012 race. But that diplomatic credential wound up working to his disadvantage in a Republican contest driven largely by the party's desire to unseat the Democratic incumbent in the White House.

Ha, wow, who could've foreseenthat?

There are three differences between Huntsman and Romney, all relatively minor: Huntsman speaks Chinese while Romney speaks French, Huntsman is super rich while Romney is one of the world's richest men, and Huntsman hasn't spent the past thirty years running for president the way Romney has. It is this latter point, pundits say, that draws the clearest contrast between the two unloved moderate Mormon millionaires.

His decision to drop out came on the eve of a potentially decisive round of debates and primary voting in South Carolina and Florida, with Romney poised to lock up the nomination. It is unlikely that Huntsman's endorsement will have a significant effect, given his anemic support from GOP voters.

There is probably a Martin Luther King Jr. joke in here, somewhere, involving the Mormons' long history of segregating black people (in Hell), but such a joke is also probably too anemic to make any difference, ultimately. [ LAT / USA Today ]