Jon Huntsman Jr. has ended his bid for the presidency.

So what went wrong? A lot, but the simplest explanation may be the best.

Here it is from Ed Morrissey: “He governed in Utah as a conservative in a state controlled by the GOP, but talked like a centrist who despised conservatives. Huntsman’s expensive and embarrassing flop really isn’t much more complicated than that.”

In essence, Jon Huntsman lacked the temperament necessary to be president. His announcement that he would “take the high road came had a whiff of moral arrogance,” as George F. Will put it, created a stench that never really left his campaign. As Will rightly noted, there is always a candidate who runs who doesn’t much care for the party whose nomination he is seeking.

Huntsman seemed to believe that he was above it all. In his calls for civility, he was often uncivil–saying, for example that “they pick corn in Iowa,” he told CBS’s Early Show, “and pick presidents in New Hampshire.” (more…)

From the Pelican Institute’s investigative reporter, Steve Beatty:

Despite landing $625,000 worth of work with the city of New Orleans to develop or repair housing for poor people, an offshoot of the activist group ACORN appears to have done nothing to fulfill the contract, no longer has the specified office in New Orleans and no longer employs the director who signed the contracts.

Acorn Housing Corp. has received no city money in connection with the two contracts, city spokeswoman Ceeon Quiett told WDSU-TV recently. Neither Quiett nor her representatives responded to requests from The Pelican Institute to address other questions about the contracts, one of which expired Aug. 31.

Those questions include:

• How did Acorn Housing get the contracts, through competitive bid or otherwise?
• Why did no one with the city monitor the contract to ensure the city got what it expected?
• Is the money still available to help low-income residents of New Orleans?
• Do city officials expect the current contract, which expires Jan. 31, to provide any services?
• Will Acorn Housing continue to be included on the city’s list of designated non-profit Community Housing Development Organizations?  

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