SALT LAKE CITY -- In response to Jon Huntsman's most recent visit to Utah, former Utah Democratic Party Chair Wayne Holland criticized the former governor and ambassador for his political transformation.

Since joining the pool of Republican candidates seeking the White House, Huntsman has changed and "is not the straight shooting Republican Governor that Utahns knew, respected and worked with a few short years ago," Holland said.

"His transformation from a straight shooting Governor to a right wing Presidential candidate is a political reinvention, the likes of which folks in Utah have never seen -- and quite frankly we don't understand," Holland said.

Like other GOP presidential hopefuls -- Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty -- Huntsman has abandoned some of his more moderate positions and has embraced a more right-of-center approach, including his support for Cap and Trade, global warming science, the Recovery Act, and health reform.

"Now as a candidate, Huntsman is just like all the other Republicans in the race who haven't brought forth a single proposal to create jobs and help us improve the economy," Holland said. "In fact, he is criticizing the President who provided Utah with the resources to save thousands of jobs in our state -- funds that Governor Huntsman happily accepted and jobs that Huntsman now takes credit for having saved himself."

But the former Democratic chair is not alone in his criticism of Huntsman. Since throwing his name out there as a potential candidate for the Republican Party, many have seen Huntsman as a moderate in a Republican base moving more to the right, with Tea Party backers looking for true conservatives. So when Huntsman touts Republican ideals, it confuses many voters.

Huntsman's campaign recently released a website devoted to "Conservatives for Huntsman," which gives the appearance the former governor is struggling to sure up his conservative base. The website is asking for 5,000 conservative leaders to join the movement to "defeat President Obama."

Although Huntsman has appeared to move more to the right, he has not quite committed to leaving his moderate ideals. On July 28, Huntsman will be the keynote speaker at the Theodore Roosevelt Banquet for the advocacy group Republicans for Environmental Protection. The organization has recently criticized House Republicans for attacking environmental policies.

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Additionally, Huntsman hired Mark McIntosh, a former policy advisor and environmental attorney in the George W. Bush administration, to advise the former governor on issues ranging from the economy to energy issues.

But as Huntsman waffles on his campaign policies, voters consistently neglect his candidacy in the polls. Polling numbers have not been trending well for Huntsman's campaign as he's seen as the bottom-feeder of the Republican candidates. Even in Utah, where Huntsman was respected as governor, he trails by a sizable margin to Republican front-runner Mitt Romney. The Public Policy Polling recently put out a report showing Romney 50 points ahead of Huntsman in Utah.

However, the polling numbers are positive for Huntsman against President Obama in Utah. Huntsman leads Obama by 40 points, compared to a 32 point lead for Romney. But Huntsman is respected by Democrats and independents in the state, with nearly 70 percent favorability. Huntsman, however, will never get the chance to compete against President Obama if he can't improve his polling numbers against the leading Republican candidates.

Nevertheless, Sen. Orrin Hatch, who has publicly backed Romney, told Politico that Huntsman shouldn't be seen as a moderate looking in on the Republican race.

"He's not a radical and certainly has backed off on some of the things he thought were right at the time years ago," Hatch said. "But as he's had an intervening time to look at these matters, he's come to the conclusion that cap and trade wasn't the right thing to do. I don't think that should be held against him at all."

Email: jfurlong@ksl.com

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