It's probably not worth my time to keep arguing about Jon Huntsman's political viability, but I notice that in New Hampshire, the state that's the cornerstone of his nomination strategy, he's got a favorability rating of 14%, with 36% unfavorable. That's abysmal. The problem isn't that it's low, per se, but that it's so lopsided against him.
Matt Bai thinks those of us dismissing Huntsman's odds bear some grudge against him. I certainly don't. I hope Huntsman wins the nomination. He might even be a good president. Conceivably, he could gain some Republican support for things like cap and trade that Republicans would never support if proposed by Obama. But the fact that he's attractive to non-conservative political reporters does not overcome the fact that he's ideologically marginal within his party.