Huntsman trounces Limbaugh in poll

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. bests controversial conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh in a new national poll about the direction of the Republican Party.

The Democratic strategy and polling group Democracy Corps found that more Americans prefer Huntsman's moderate approach to Limbaugh's premise that the GOP must move further to the right, 57 percent to 37 percent, according to Politico.com.

As the GOP struggles to recover from last November's loss of the White House, Limbaugh is increasingly being seen as the party's leader. He was cheered at the recent annual meeting of the national Conservative Political Action Committee for saying the party needed to return to its conservative roots to start winning again.

But Huntsman has been attracting national attention as a moderate, thanks to his support of climate change and civil unions and condemnation of his party's lack of alternatives to the Democrat's federal stimulus package. He has been touted as a possibly presidential candidate in 2012.

"The poll shows a majority of Americans are in line with the governor's belief that we need solution-oriented leaders," Huntsman spokeswoman Lisa Roskelley said, carefully avoiding any mention of Limbaugh.

"Not talking about anybody specific, the governor feels it's important to look at the party in a more inclusive way," she said. "It goes back to truly being the 'big tent' party."

Utah Republican Party Chairman Stan Lockhart was also reluctant to talk directly about Limbaugh. Asked whether Limbaugh or Huntsman better reflected the views of Utah Republicans, Lockhart said that's "not a question that can easily be answered."

He described the GOP as party built "from the grassroots up, not from the top down. It is the average Utahn who just goes through life, doing the right things for the right reasons, that is reflective of the values Republicans stand for."

The nationwide poll of 1,000 like 2010 voters, taken March 4-8, asked respondents whether they agreed more with Limbaugh or Huntsman, whose name was misspelled as "John." The complete results are available at democracycorps.com.

Huntsman's position was described as saying the GOP "has been losing elections because it became narrowly focused on very conservative issues that do not appeal to most Americans. It can only return to relevance by moving to the middle on issues such as the environment and immigration and offering pragmatic solutions that appeal to groups like the youth and minorities that have tuned the party out. "

Limbaugh the survey stated, says the GOP is losing "because moderate

factions within the party have driven it away from its core conservative principles. If it does not stamp out these factions it will be guaranteed to continue losing elections. Americans are conservatives at heart and the blueprint for Republican victory is to embrace the Reagan revolution and return to conservative values."

Respondents to the poll also ranked Limbaugh the third most influential leader of the GOP, behind 2008 presidential nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Mitt Romney, Utah's 'favorite son' candidate in last year's GOP presidential race, came in fourth. Huntsman was not among the options offered.

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