Huntsman to GOP: Time to support Trump


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SALT LAKE CITY — On the eve of Tuesday’s potentially decisive primary in Indiana, there’s a new call for GOP establishment to rally behind Donald Trump — and it’s coming from former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Jr.

“We've had enough intraparty fighting. Now's the time to stitch together a winning coalition,” Huntsman told Politico. “And it's been clear almost from the beginning that Donald Trump has the ability to assemble a nontraditional bloc of supporters. … The ability to cut across traditional party boundaries — like '80, '92 and 2008 — will be key, and Trump is much better positioned to achieve that.”

Political observers in Utah say Huntsman's support is one based on strategy — for the Republican Party.

“If the Republican Party does want to pull this off with Donald Trump as their nominee, they’re going to need people to cross the aisle,” said Jason Perry, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics at the University of Utah. “They’re just going to have to get people who really haven’t shown up before, and people on the Democratic side to come over; it’s absolutely essential.”

The call for GOP faithful to unite behind Trump comes ahead of Tuesday's Indiana primary — where a recent NBC News poll showed Trump could walk away with all 57 of that state's winner-take-all GOP delegates — leaving rival Ted Cruz with few options.

“That's why you see very important politicians like Jon Huntsman saying we need to rally around the nominee,” Perry said, adding that Huntsman has talked before about the Republican Party needing to get more people involved in the process.

“Governor Huntsman is an astute observer of the political process,” said former Utah Republican Party Chairman Stan Lockhart. “My guess is that he's looking at the numbers and he's saying 'Donald Trump is going to get to 1,237 and if he is, then it's time to rally around him.'”

Lockhart is also treasurer of a Utah committee called “Stop Trump Stop Hillary,” which sought to cherry-pick “thoroughly vetted” Utah Republican delegates to go to the GOP Convention in July with the goal of stopping Trump from receiving the nomination.

“Can whoever wins bring the party back together? That will be the key in November of this year,” Lockhart said. “We need to find the best candidate to beat Hillary Clinton; that's the goal."

All of Utah’s 40 GOP delegates are pledged to support Cruz at the national convention in July — based on the results of Utah’s caucus-night Presidential Preference Poll. All but two of Utah’s delegates have committed to stick with the Texas senator even if there are multiple rounds of balloting at the convention.

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Ladd Egan

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