Republican Party is ‘Devoid of a Soul’, Says Former Republican Presidential Candidate Jon Huntsman, Needs ‘Strong Dose of Libertarianism’

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the former Utah governor and leading Republican moderate said the party must accept “a strong dose of libertarianism” on social issues and allow state governments to move ahead with gay marriage.

Offering his prescription for the party’s renewal, Mr Huntsman said the early stages of the Republican presidential primaries rewarded extreme conservatives rather than “long-term competitive candidates” who could effectively take on the Democrats.

Barack Obama appointed the Mandarin-speaking 52-year-old US Ambassador to China in 2009, a decision the newly-elected President hoped would keep Mr Huntsman out of this year’s election.

Obama campaign aides openly acknowledged that they believed the two-term governor would be a difficult general election opponent and possibly the most dangerous Republican in the field.

He returned from Beijing in 2011 to media fanfare but his presidential bid collapsed in the early stages as he failed to connect with the conservatives that make up the Republican primary electorate.

Mr Huntsman said that his work for a Democrat president, his belief in climate change and his relatively liberal attitude on gay rights had obscured his conservative stances on budgets, gun control and abortion.

“You get caught up in a lot of the issues on which you’re easily dismissed without people giving you proper consideration,” he said.

However, the scale of Mitt Romney’s defeat in November has left the party reeling and may create a fresh opening for the socially-moderate but fiscally-conservative ideas Mr Huntsman espoused in the primary.

“The party right now is a holding company that’s devoid of a soul and it will be filled up with ideas over time and leaders will take their proper place,” he said.

Mr Huntsman urged the party to “reflect a little bit on our winning chapters” and face up to a demographic reality where white conservatives represent a shrinking portion of the electorate.

“We can’t be known as a party that’s fear-based and doesn’t believe in math,” he said. “In the end it will come down to a party that believes in opportunity for all our people, economic competitiveness and a strong dose of libertarianism.”

He said he “absolutely” supported individual states being allowed to implement gay marriage, saying that Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president, believed that “equality under the law is an American value”.