It's called knowing your audience

Watching Morning Joe this morning, I was surprised to hear Michael Steele state that Jon Huntsman needs to stop being an ambassador and be a leader and take charge. In Michael's words, if he'd do that, " He'd cut through the Republican candidates like a knife through hot butter." Now Michael, you have a fine mind when it comes to politics, but you'd never make it as a comedian. I don't mean that you were saying was a joke, and yes, Jon Huntsman has the vision, ideas, and background to be a conservative but still mainstream President. But you forgot the first rule of a comedian: Know your audience. The people who are voting early in the GOP process are in states where the Tea Party will not listen to mainstream ideas, and take them as lies perpetuated by the media. Take almost any position, and to be a member of the Tea Party, you must be far, far right. And that is the group that will dominate the voting bloc early, and maybe even in the middle and late. No, it isn't the way he's speaking, and it isn't what he's saying, in a lot of ways. It's the audience, and nothing that is sensible, smart, and logical will be listened to, much less accepted. And since that is all Jon Huntsman has said, he'll never cut through the other candidates like a knife through hot butter, because the audience isn't looking for that person.