Huntsman’s the media’s kind of Republican.

Jennifer Rubin:  Huntsman: Wins the media primary, has yet to show GOP support.

From the mainstream media’s standpoint, he is the McCain 1980. He’s a “good Republican” — not too conservative, not too loyal to his party and infatuated (at least he was) with cap-and-trade. And unlike McCain, he’s running to the incumbent president’s left on foreign policy. So it’s not surprising he is lavished with praise. A political reporter asked me the other day, “Don’t you think Huntsman will eat Bachmann’s lunch?” Umm. No. But the total ignorance about the conservative movement is telling and will infuse the mainstream coverage of his race.

I listened to Rush Limbaugh cover Huntsman's speech yesterday. He contrasted the thin gruel of Huntsman’s comments with the rousing contrast of Reagan’s announcement in the same location when Reagan kicked off his candidacy. Huntsman’s no Reagan; not even in the same ballpark.

It makes you wonder whether Obama, who named Huntsman as his ambassador to China, has now appointed him to be the Republican nominee. His supporters seem to think so.

The appetite for his candidacy has always been an open question. If the audience at his announcement was any indication, there may not be one currently in the GOP electorate. (Politico reported, “The crowd was a mix of middle-aged professionals in suits, college-age students and a handful of Obama supporters, including one man in a New Jersey for Obama T-shirt.”)

To top off his bipartisan support, Huntsman got the endorsement of Harry Reid.