One Minnesota band that has quickly become one of my favorites in the last couple years is Duluth’s Trampled By Turtles. Most people wouldn’t think of Minnesota when they think of a great bluegrass band, but perhaps this song would make them reconsider:
Need more? Here’s a fantastic instrumental aptly named “Sounds Like A Movie.” It just keeps getting faster and faster. Unbelievable:
I was lucky enough to see them, not just once, but two nights in a row last winter, and MAN, do they put on a show. One of their regular features at a show is to perform a cover song, perhaps more than one. They do such a great job at cover songs that I honestly wish they’d release an album of nothing but covers. Check out their cover of the Pixies:
If that wasn’t enough for you, here’s their cover of Tears For Fears:
If you see they’re coming to your town, do yourself a huge favor and go see them!
Here is a nice little song from Revolver that most Beatles fans like, but John hated, for some reason. It’s hard to figure out why. It’s catchy, well performed and not lyrically boring. At this point John may have still been in what he called his “Fat Elvis” period (or still in “Nowhere Man” mode) so it’s entirely possible that later in life he took a dim view on his creative output from that period. But we’re here this week to give “And Your Bird Can Sing” some love. And with a Bonus video of the famous “Laughing” take.
With all of the Monkees nostalgia floating about after Davy Jones’s passing we thought we would reveal some of the musical connections between the groups. In early 1967 The Monkees played live dates in London and got to meet The Beatles. The Beatles were said to be great admirers of The Monkees television show and they met with them both at home and in the studio. Micky Dolenz refers this meeting in the lyrics of his song “Randy Scouse Git”, calling them “the four kings of E.M.I.” (The Beatles record label). It is difficult to imagine that within six months of the first broadcast of their show in the fal of 1966 this group of unknowns was meeting The Beatles.
George Harrison encouraged Peter Tork to introduce his banjo playing into the group. Within weeks of returning to the U.S. Peter would take George’s advice and played a blistering rhythm banjo track that drives the Mike Nesmith song “You Told Me” on their album Headquarters. Perhaps as an ode to George the track (the album’s opener) features a parody of the “one, two, three, four” count-in on George’s song “Taxman.” And if you listen closely enough during the count-in you will hear a strange harp-like instrument playing. That is the swarmandal (an Indian instrument) that The Beatles used in the recording of “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The Beatles presented it to The Monkees as a gift.
But in terms of music history nothing can match Mike Nesmith’s night on February 10, 1967. Mike was invited to the legendary “orchestra” recording session for “A Day In The Life” by none other than John Lennon, with whom he happened to be staying while in England. This session is famous in Beatles lore as the session was turned into a star-studded party (it was very rare that The Beatles invited guests into the studio). Attending that night was Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Marianne Faithfull, Donovan, and a whole host of friends and hangers-on. Paul famously conducted the orchestra (including the wild “climb” section that precedes the bridge and the final chord) wearing an apron. And the entire party gathered around the microphone at the end of the night and hummed the last note of the song. This would later be replaced by the crashing piano chord. Quite a night in music history. And Mike Nesmith was there. If you don’t believe us, take a look at the video.
“The Monkees are still finding out who they are, and they seem to be improving as performers each time I see them. When they’ve got it all sorted out, they may be the greatest.”- George Harrison
“I think you’re the greatest comic talents since the Marx Brothers. I’ve never missed one of your programs.”- John Lennon
“I like their music a lot…and you know, their personalities. I watch their tv show and it is good.”- Paul McCartney
“It’s the combining of their sound with their jumping around and all that which makes ‘em so popular with the kids, I guess. With me, too.”- Ringo Starr
“I’m sure that the Monkees are going to live up to a lot of things many people didn’t expect.”- Paul
“They’re not really just copies of us, now, are they? The Monkees have a fine way of their own, you know?”- Ringo
“”Monkees? They’ve got their own scene, and I won’t send them down for it. You try a weekly television show and see if you can manage one half as good!”- John Lennon
In the early 1980s, I helped Congress investigate how drug money laundering was compromising legal casino gambling as the drug business responded to the Bank Secrecy Act. Congress heard, but did not understand, how our drug laws hurt a sector of American business. Congress pushed currency transaction reporting, for example.
The 8,000 reports filed in 1985 have grown to over 14,800,000 in FY2011. What had been a minor inconvenience is now a major responsibility that costs banks hundreds of millions of dollars annually. Despite this burden, the great untaxed profits of illegal drug sales worldwide have enabled local drug trafficking gangs to transform into global criminal organizations.
Drug prohibition enterprises corrupt bank officers and tellers, accountants, lawyers, financial advisors, real estate brokers, securities dealers, freight forwarders, shipping companies, airline employees, etc. to ship and pay for drugs, and to launder their receipts and profits. In one example, in March 2010, corruption was exposed in the Wachovia unit of Wells Fargo Bank, now the fifth largest U.S. bank by deposits. Wachovia was forced to disgorge $110 million and was fined $50 million for failing to internally police $378 billion in transactions with casas de cambio in Mexico that laundered drug profits. Businesses cannot count on the integrity of their agents or counterparts in such environments, and Wachovia’s shareholders paid an enormous price.
All over the world, drug organizations depend upon corrupting border guards, customs inspectors, police, prosecutors, judges, legislators, cabinet ministers, military officers, intelligence agents, financial regulators, and presidents and prime ministers. Businesses cannot count on the integrity of government officials in such environments.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg, in my opinion. The true cost of the quagmire cannot be measured when entire industries, such as hemp, are not allowed to exist at all under current law. However, I think this is a great piece that raises many points on the cost of prohibition that many readers may not have considered before, so I recommend reading the whole thing.
Davy Jones passed away today at the age of 66. And while my Monkee fandom has ebbed and flowed over the last decade or so, the fact remains that The Monkees played an incredibly important role in my musical education. And I suspect I’m not alone.
I grew up in the late 1970s as a child of the late 1950s. The only music I heard was doo-wop, Dion & The Belmonts, Buddy Holly, Elvis and countless other greats. Sha Na Na provided a kid friendly television alternative to the radio and Grease was one of the first movies I can remember seeing. The oldies revival boom of the mid to late 1970s ensured that there was a constant flow of live shows to be brought to as a precocious 5-year-old (The Shirelles, Del Shannon, Jan & Dean, The Platters and many, many more). As far as I knew that music was current. It was what everyone listened to, right?
Wrong. In 1982 MTV arrived in our house and the thought free world of mainstream musical mediocrity was presented to me in all of its visual glory. Duran Duran rode on yachts. Pat Benatar was defeating the Nazis and Michael Jackson was dancing with zombies. I had to admit that those things did not happen in any of the episodes of Sha Na Na that I’d ever seen, so I took the bait. And by 1986 I really didn’t care about music anymore. Job done, early MTV.
In February of 1986 my best friend told me that MTV would be running a marathon of The Monkees television series. Both of us had watched and enjoyed the show as kids, but neither of us would have expected our reaction. For about 2 years my friend and I soaked up every bit of Monkee information, memorabilia and music it was possible to find in small-town New Hampshire. Since this marathon coincided with the emergence of the VCR in popular culture it meant that every episode and interview could be recorded and watched and rewatched. We saw them live three times, bought their books, got their autographs and listened to their albums constantly. What The Monkees did was to rekindle my love of music -which is slightly ironic when you consider that The Monkees legacy is not so much a musical one, but a cultural one.
In a nutshell The Monkees were an example of two talented musicians and two talented actors being thrown together so that a studio could make money off of “the kids” and “the scene” as they thought people wanted to see it. The music was a means to an end and the ride was over in about two years. The four participants were shown the door most ungraciously* and the studio moved on to their next project. But what those two years showed us about marketing and about creating a product that fits the times is astounding. I don’t think that any attempt by Hollywood to create a multimedia celebrity to capitalize on a demographic since has quite matched its intensity (some may say Glee, but I’m not convinced).
Today many people think of The Monkees in unflattering terms. They see them as a group of guys that tried to get into a party without an invitation. Guys who wanted to be The Beatles, but were really just a bunch of cheats. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. The Monkees were well aware of the fact that they were acting the part of a rock and roll band and that part of this was to have albums released. They wanted to perform on them, but they were turned down by management. They fought to gain creative control and won. They recorded one full album as a band, realized they were not quite good enough together to do it again, and decided to have each individual produce their own solo material that they brought in and placed on Monkees records. There really weren’t any delusions of grandeur there. It was the reaction to the television series that got them the attention, and I think they always knew that.
But getting back to Davy Jones, his passing makes me remember that no man gave up more to become a Monkee than Davy Jones. He had a promising career on Broadway ahead of him (he had already been nominated for a Tony award) and was probably about to be promoted as a teen idol in his own right. Becoming a Monkee was probably the quickest way available to achieve superstardom, but it also cost him any shot of solo success in music or on Broadway. There was a darker side to Davy Jones (he was not the happy, cherub-faced imp that he portrayed on TV) and I always got the sense that he knew the decision he made to take that one gig meant he traded a long career on the top of a mountain for a few moments in the stratosphere. He didn’t know that going in.
And even though Davy Jones is no more responsible for it than any of the other Monkees I thank him for his part in making me care about music again. When The Monkees returned to fame in 1986 they became the first band that I absolutely had to know EVERYTHING about, so I devoured books about them and about bands of the sixties. Within a year I began to split my loyalties between The Monkees and The Beatles and never looked back. But regardless of how I feel about their music, their television series or their place in history I know that I’ll always be able to trace my musical knowledge back to a single point in early 1986.
Here is a song from The Monkees infamous flop turned cult-hit 1968 film, Head. “Daddy’s Song” was written by Harry Nilsson, who would go on to fame a few years after the film’s release. And Davy’s dance partner? That’s young choreographer Toni Basil, who would help to destroy my love of music a mere 14 years later with the help of MTV.
*If you ever want to see proof of how unceremoniously The Monkees were abandoned by the studio you need look no further than Head. The show’s creators/producers (who really wanted to be free of the band so that they could become serious filmmakers) told a band desperate to be taken seriously that writing a film in which they kill off their bubblegum image was a good idea and that they’d be behind them all the way. The Monkees were only too eager to shed their teenybopper image and wrote scenes showing the band committing suicide by jumping off a bridge together, fighting in Vietnam, hitting women, mocking the handicapped and generally being unlikeable (albeit in a cartoonish way). The studio then delayed the release until after the TV show was cancelled, decided not to mention The Monkees were even in the film in the TV, radio and print ads, and ignored it altogether when it eventually was released. They got their wish, the film flopped and The Monkees were finished. The producers were free to go make Easy Rider , which is what they wanted to do all along. Needless to say I adore the film.
Unless you’re a Minnesota music buff, you might not easily place Dan Wilson in the musical universe, but I’m certain anyone reading this blog is more familiar with his work than they realize.
Dan first started in a Minneapolis indie band named Trip Shakespeare, formed by Dan’s brother Matt. Although Matt Wilson wrote this song, it’s one of my Trip Shakespeare favorites:
The song that might be among Dan Wilson’s bigger claims to fame is a song from his next band, Semisonic. A song so famous, every bar in America plays it, and if you don’t know it, then I don’t even want to know:
Dan has released solo work as well, and one of my favorite solo songs is Free Life, which I think really shows off his song writing ability:
These days, Dan has been known to write songs for other artists and, you know, snag a few Grammys.
That was Dan standing right behind Adele as she accepted her Grammy for Album of the Year, thanks to his song writing credit on “Someone Like You.”
Word around Minneapolis is that Dan will soon be releasing another solo album soon. Perhaps more Grammys will be in his future as well.
Today would have been George’s 69th birthday, so we wanted to take the opportunity to mark the occasion by playing a few of George’s most underappreciated solo recordings. We all know the hits. But you may not know these. And you should.
The first is a song that George wrote with Tom Petty in 1989 for the Lethal Weapon 2 soundtrack. A pity, because had it been written in time for the first Traveling Wilburys album it might have been as big a hit as “Handle With Care.” The song is called “Cheer Down” and it stands as one of George’s best compositions.
Second we have “Blow Away” from his 1979 album, George Harrison. This particular song reached the Top 20 in America, but rarely seems to get a mention these days. It’s actually a very nice song.
And our third song is a track from what might be George’s most underrated album, 1975′s Extra Texture. ”The Answer’s At The End” is a beautiful song with inspiring lyrics that, to be honest, George had help in writing. Sir Frank Crisp, the eccentric former owner of George’s palatial estate, Friar Park (immortalized in song as “Crackerbox Palace”) engraved poems and quotes in various parts of the mansion. The first verse of this song is one of them (you can actually see it in the 2011 documentary Living In The Material World). But whether co-written or not this song is a true hidden gem.
This week we would like to feature a cover version of “It Don’t Come Easy” that we heard on The Current earlier this week. Bettye LaVette has been in the music industry for 50 years, scoring her first Top 10 R&B hit in 1962 at age 16. Here she is performing a lovely blues rendition of Ringo’s 1971 smash hit.
And here’s a bonus video of Bettye’s classic “Let Me Down Easy.” Listen to that voice and consider that she was only 19 when she recorded it.
I know I’ve featured Sims and I’ve played the heck outta Dessa, but they both belong to a larger collective of hip-hop artists known as Doomtree, which is also the name of their label. It just so happens that Doomtree has a new album out called No Kings and I’ve really been digging a number of tracks. If you think you don’t like hip-hop, I believe Doomtree will make you think twice.
First up, “The Grand Experiment.”
While that’s a fine start, I’m personally really digging the slower and deeper “Little Mercy.”
Last, but certainly not least, is the catchy number “Bangarang” which Sims performed solo at The Current birthday party a few weeks ago. The song is a lot of fun and stars honorary Doomtree member Har Mar Superstar, which the careful OB&B reader might remember from the early days of this blog.
You go, Har Mar.
If you enjoyed any or all of these songs, be sure to check out the Doomtree website and catch them on tour.
Overheard on The Current this morning was a song we hadn’t thought of in a little while. ”All Together Now” was written and recorded in May of 1967, just after the completion of the Sgt. Pepper sessions and supposedly with the historic “Our World” broadcast in mind. The Beatles were selected to represent the United Kingdom on this program -the first worldwide satellite link-up in television history. The Beatles decided to write a song that could speak to people of all nations with a theme of brotherhood and camaraderie. It certainly seems plausible that Paul wrote this fun little song for that event. Unfortunately for Paul, John was working on his own song for use in the broadcast. It was “All You Need Is Love.” The Beatles would hang on to “All Together Now” until January of 1969 when it was used to close their animated film Yellow Sumbarine.
By the way, The Current is currently having a member drive. It would mean a lot to us if you could click over and see what they have to offer. We don’t know where you live, but we can guarantee that you don’t have a radio station as good as The Current in your area. It is a new/classic/alternative music station with a phenomenal playlist -the kind of station you don’t see much anymore. And thanks to the internet and smartphone apps, you don’t even need to live in Minneapolis to enjoy it.
Whitney Houston, the iconic American singer whose battles with drugs, alcohol and ex-husband Bobby Brown marred her star power, has died. She was 48.
Houston’s publicist confirmed the singer’s death to ABC News. The cause of death is not yet known.
One of the first people we thought of as a parallel to Whitney Houston’s story was Judy Garland. That is not to compare their individual talents or impact on popular culture, but rather to imply that they were both immensely talented performers that shared a similar career arc. Early fame, a career in music and film, industry and media pressure, drug abuse, bad marriages, career downturn, attempted comeback and, tragically, an early death. We both hope that despite the public’s voracious appetite for stories like this, and tabloid journalism’s willingness to feed it, that this story does not turn into another Anna Nicole Smith circus. After all, there was a massive talent that should be celebrated. Not a tragic life that should be deconstructed.
Minneapolis is absolutely buzzing about this week’s featured band: Polica. They’ve burst onto the scene and have quickly become the must see band in town. I was privileged enough to see them on January 28th for The Current’s birthday party, where they were the headlining act. They not only matched the hype, they surpassed it.
The vocals of Channy Casselle are haunting, and her stage presence is mesmerizing. However, for me the awe came from the two drummers. That’s right. TWO drummers. I’ve always enjoyed watching drummers, and watching the two Polica drummers was incredible. In addition, one of these drummers is a former co-worker of mine. I used to watch Ben Ivascu play with countless other bands about 15 years ago, and always thought he was the best drummer in town. I couldn’t be more thrilled to see him finally have an opportunity to make it big. You can see Ben in the first video in the black t-shirt.
Their debut album is being released next week, on Valentine’s day and from there they will be touring (dates and locations are posted on their site) and if you get a chance to see them, I can’t recommend enough that you go.
Yes, it was 43 years ago that The Beatles, seeking an ending visual for their film project Get Back (later renamed Let it Be) decided to take their equipment to the roof of their Apple offices and play an unannounced concert for confused passers-by. As we have mentioned previously, this concert took place during what might have been The Beatles most difficult period. In the week preceding the concert three of The Beatles made the decision to hire Allen Klein as their business manager. Paul was the lone dissenting vote, and the pressure and resentment caused was a leading contribute to the breakup (George had quit the group and rejoined just weeks earlier). In fact, by the time they climbed the stairs of #3 Savile Row they knew that they could not continue for much longer.
But for about 40 minutes The Beatles (with Billy Preston) put their differences aside and played a great set. While they did not get arrested as they had hoped they would, the image of a band playing on the roof became as iconic as an all white album cover and closed the album (and, in a way, their career since it was the last image of their last film, released after they had already broken up) in grand style. We present it for your viewing pleasure.
Next up in my series of albums that you may not have heard but should, it’s a gem of an album from British New Wave band Squeeze. Folks in America will be familiar with Squeeze from their hit single “Tempted” (which appears on this album) as well as some minor hits. But by the time that East Side Story was released in 1981, Squeeze had already had two #2 singles in the UK (“Cool for Cats” and “Up The Junction”) as well as three other Top 40 hits. Where other New Wave bands have faded into obscurity with sounds that seem trite and almost embarrassingly dated, Squeeze maintains a loyal following. And their old songs still sound fantastic and fresh. So what made them so good?
We really must apologize for the drop in posting over the past few weeks. As you can imagine we are somewhat disappointed in the state of the race for the Republican nomination for president. Not so much in Jon Huntsman, but in those on the right who lied through their teeth to poison the well against him. But we have plenty of time during Obama’s next four years (for that is what they’ve guaranteed) to discuss all that. In the meantime, it’s Thursday.
This week’s song is an overlooked gem from 1965′s masterpiece, Rubber Soul. In addition to being a nice message to a GOP all too eager to embrace the “Jon Huntsman is a liberal” slander, it’s one of the better examples of harmony that The Beatles ever recorded. ”Think For Yourself” is clearly not the best song that George Harrison’s ever wrote. But it was improved in production by two factors. A bouncy fuzz bass guitar and the incredible harmonies of Paul, George and John. But as the second video shows, The Beatles (especially John) had considerable difficulties singing them.
The second video is an amazing window into what a Beatles recording session was like in 1965. With the microphone left open we can hear The Beatles interacting with George Martin, joking around with each other, perfecting their harmonies, and..ummm nipping off to the toilet one by one for a joint. Rubber Soul was described by John Lennon as “our pot album.” And listening to this set of outtakes you can see why. Every so often one of The Beatles wanders off and comes back to the microphone coughing. If you listen closely enough you can even hear Paul (after being gone for a few minutes) explain that “I just came back from Olympia…I lit the torch.” It’s definitely worth a listen.
This week in honor of Jon Huntsman’s performance in New Hampshire we bring you “Ticket to Ride.” Many of you will have seen Jon’s speech on Tuesday night in which he declared that New Hampshire gave him a “ticket to ride” to South Carolina. From the looks of it he was exactly right. He is already moving up in the polls in South Carolina despite having spent very little time there. We just hope that the good people of that state see in Jon what the people of New Hampshire saw. Best of luck, Governor Huntsman.
Back when I first thought of these Minnesota Music Monday posts, the first band I had in mind to feature was Babes In Toyland, but I’ve held off until now. In their hay day, Babes In Toyland were the riot grrrls of Minneapolis. When I needed to figure out how to play bar chords, I went to see Babes and watched Kat Bjelland. Their final show at First Avenue was one of the best shows I’ve ever seen at that venue. They prove you don’t need boys to rock. Here’s a track more on the clean side.
The interesting thing is that years later Kat and I ended up being neighbors and friends, and we got together to let our sons have play dates. It’s not often that people get to enjoy such a friendship with one of their rock idols, and I’m thankful I had the chance to get to know Kat. So here’s a double shot (and one of my all time favorites):
As I mentioned the other day (or was it yesterday? The days are starting to run together.) I have been volunteering at Jon Huntsman headquarters for the past week. It has been incredibly hectic, since I live about 70 miles away from Manchester and am still working my day job. But ultimately it has been one of the most rewarding things I have ever done. There are some incredible people working for Jon Huntsman. And when I think I have it tough I think about their stories. Some people drove or flew from across the country. Others put their lives on hold to help out full time. And the full-time staff have to manage an ever-changing (and ever-growing) herd of cats, finding order and getting the most out of us for Jon. So I can handle driving 1,000 miles in a little more than a week.
But for those of you who are wondering, there is a real, tangible excitement on the ground in NH this weekend. I will write about it in more detail once the NH Primary is over and Jon has moved on to South Carolina. But this weekend changed everything for the campaign. Jon tapped into two themes which have resonated with voters in a way that even he may not have expected. One is the issue of divisiveness in politics and the second is his “Country First” counter to Mitt Romney’s attack on Governor Huntsman’s service to his country under President Obama. Both issues have drastically weakened Mitt and have propelled Jon’s campaign. Second place is very, very possible. And first place is not out of the realm of possibility.
You may not see this in the press (though even the mainstream media is taking notice of Jon’s surge here in NH). But you’ll just have to trust me on this. The momentum is with Jon at a time when undecided voters are making up their minds (WMUR believes that as many as 40% still may be undecided). And the enthusiasm of Jon’s supporters (and without question his volunteers) beat out what I saw from other supporters at the events I attended this weekend by a country mile. And best of all? The campaign is seeing donations roll in from across the country (not just New Hampshire).
So, in short, can Jon Huntsman really do this? As they say in New Hampshire, “Ayuh.”
Sorry for the light posting recently, but I’ve been spending time volunteering for the Huntsman campaign in Manchester, New Hampshire. And there was no better place to be than the Jon 2012 Headquarters this evening when the news came in that Jon has earned the endorsement of the Boston Globe.
With a strong record as governor of Utah and US ambassador to China, arguably the most important overseas diplomatic post, Huntsman’s credentials match those of anyone in the field. He would be the best candidate to seize this moment in GOP history, and the best-prepared to be president.
Huntsman governed Utah as a clear conservative who nonetheless put the interests of his state ahead of ideology. He delighted right-wing supporters by replacing a graduated state income tax with a flat tax. Strong economic growth put Utah in the top five in job creation during Huntsman’s tenure, while he gave tax credits to companies developing solar energy. He offered a sweeping school choice plan, and joined the Western Climate Initiative, which set goals for reducing greenhouse gases.
This is a major endorsement in the New England media market. The Globe is read throughout New Hampshire and its prestige will resonate nationally. And it came on a day in which Jon picked up two more newspaper endorsements, the Laconia Citizen and the Eagle Times, bringing the total of his New Hampshire newspaper endorsements to seven.
All in all a great night. And even better that I was able to spend it volunteering for Team Huntsman. This weekend should be stressful, but exciting. Hang on to your hats.
I know. I’ve featured Sims on morethan a fewoccasions, but that was last year. In addition, with the Iowa caucuses tomorrow, I couldn’t help but think of a couple of political songs.
First up, Sims live with my favorite song, where he rips on Obama. Totally awesome, mainly because I was at this show.
And now, for a great song about left-wing feel-good solutions that don’t work.
I can’t help it. Bad Time Zoo is an album that rocks from beginning to end, and I’m more than happy to feature Sims over and over again. Happy New Year!
Once again, thanks to my lucky dialing finger, I have won some concert tickets from the wonderful people at The Current. This time, I’m thrilled to be seeing Mason Jennings – an artist I’ve featured in a Minnesota Music Monday post a while back. He’s been near the top of my list of Minnesota artists I must see in concert, so I will certainly have a great time tonight. While I’m at the show, enjoying the real thing, here’s a video for the rest of you to enjoy.
In what is sure to provide Jon Huntsman’s campaign with a goldmine of a quote, the New York Daily News published the results of a poll which concluded that America’s views are most aligned with Jon Huntsman.
If Americans chose their President based only on their perceptions of which candidate shares their views, 2012 GOP hopeful Jon Huntsman would be commander-in-chief, a poll released Thursday finds.
The USA Today/Gallup poll asked Americans to rate their own ideology on a scale of 1 to 5 — with 1 being very liberal and 5 being very conservative. Americans put themselves slightly to the right of center with a score of 3.3 — the same rating they give Huntsman, though 45% of those surveyed said they have no opinion of the former Utah governor.
Americans perceive GOP presidential hopeful Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who scored 4.0, and President Obama, who scored 2.3, as furthest from the ideological mainstream.
Although I would place Jon Huntsman a bit further right (the “Jon Huntsman is a seeekrit liberal!!!11!!” propaganda dished out by the left and, sadly, the right early in his campaign still has some people thinking he’s less conservative than his record indicates ) I do not disagree with the overall results. In Jon Huntsman we have a candidate that is solidly conservative, but connects with the left in a way that no conservative candidate has in ages. Some may confuse that with being “moderate”. I call it “attracting new conservatives.”
