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We heard Tuesday night that Governor Jon Huntsman Jr was invited to speak at the Republican National Convention in Minnisota in September. Kudos to our afternoon producer Becky Bruce by the way for grabbing Kirk Jowers, director of the Hinckley Institute of Politics, for his reaction on tape so we could run it Wednesday morning.
By mid-morning Wednesday we were hoping to reach the governor for his comments on the prestigious invitation. Doug Wright's producer reached the gov's people, who said he had time at 11:40 over the phone. In the meantime, I was sent out to catch up with him during his daily activities.
These activities included a water conference/symposium in Alta at 9 AM, and a press conference on the 10th birthday of CHIP at 11 AM at the capital. I opted for the captial, hoping to snag him before the event began and ask him about the GOP convention. No luck. I tried after, but he was cutting birthday cake, then it was time for his Doug Wright phone call. So I camped out outside his office and he was able to talk to me close to noon.
He said he's humbled by the opportunity to speak at the convention, and surprised by the invitation. He says he's going to talk about reform, but hasn't started writing the speech yet. KSL-TV's Shara Park and I asked him if this was payback for supporting John McCain since the very beginning of his campaign. He said no, he believes this is the GOP paying more attention to the West and to the things Utah has done. We asked him if he thinks he'll be appointed to a national/international post or position if McCain becomes president. He said he's committed to serving another term as governor if he's re-elected. (The polls imply he will be).
So we'll see. Kirk Jowers said this will put Huntsman more onto the national stage, and said he's seen as a rising star. He said it was a speech very much like this opportunity that put Barack Obama into the spotlight. The governor said he expects to speak for a few minutes on the Tuesday night of the convention, probably around 8 or 9 PM.
