Now, just to be clear, even if Huntsman manages (by some miracle) to win the nom in 2012, I'll still be a solid Obama voter. But, as much pleasure as I do take in watching the Republican party collapse inward on itself like a dying star (or if you prefer, cannibalize itself like one of those tattoos that used to be cool a decade or so ago), I think this trend will eventually be bad for Democrats too - maybe not politically, but in one more important way: it will make our elected officials lazy. Right now we have an abundance of smart people saying and doing smart things, but the less opposition we face in the next several years, the more certain players and certain parts of the party will sink into dilettantism and "lesser-evil"-ism. Jon Huntsman, though, is the anti-loon. He has the potential to be the smart, thoughtful, eminently respectable face of non-insane conservatism, and while that's still not my cup of tea, I can't help but be enthusiastic about the prospect of something like that.

(Also, as a brief aside: Plouffe is obviously pumping up Huntsman here, and I respect him (even more) for that - he's not trying to push the weakest Republican by handing him/her a soundbite, and I like to think that this indicates that his feelings on Huntsman are similar to mine. Maybe wishful thinking, I don't know).

UPDATE: Oh hey also, this.