Jon Hunstman endorses marriage equality

Formerly a Republican presidential candidate, the Governor of Utah, and still a Mormon, Jon Huntsman has done the unthinkable – endorsed equality.

In a piece for The American Conservative, Huntsman wrote:

Conservatives should start to lead again and push their states to join the nine others that allow all their citizens to marry.

There is nothing conservative about denying other Americans the ability to forge that same relationship with the person they love… This is both the right thing to do and will better allow us to confront the real choice our country is facing: a choice between the Founders’ vision of a limited government that empowers free markets, with a level playing field giving opportunity to all, and a world of crony capitalism and rent-seeking by the most powerful economic interests.

Huntsman, who unsuccessfully pushed for civil unions as Utah’s governor, could be just the man to drag the Republican Party into the 21st Century. His leadership could give flailing conservatives a stable footing in America’s new political reality.

Or this guy could keep opening his mouth.

Reforming his own party on social issues is certainly a daunting challenge, as evidenced by his early departure from the Republican primary race. But he was a tremendously popular governor in a tremendously conservative state, and is a highly respected member of a conservative religion dedicated to opposing equality.

If anyone can turn the GOP’s Titanic, my money is on Huntsman. That is, if their current captains haven’t already hit the iceberg. In which case, Huntsman would be better off just jumping into a lifeboat and getting away from that wreck while he still can.

(Source)