With his convincing victory in the New Hampshire primary, Mitt Romney looks like a sure bet for the Republican nomination, and I am left wondering why. The only thing he could have going for him is the presumption that he is the most “electable” candidate available. And I find that hard to believe.

Obviously, in a sane world, Romney is more electable than Ron Paul – or Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry.  They talk as if they belong in a mental institution.

But Jon Huntsman?

Of course, Huntsman is a Mormon, and that would turn off some voters. But so is Romney.

And from all I know about the two men, Huntsman is the more “normal.” He sounds quite intelligent and, unlike Tin Man Romney, he might even have a heart. (He and his wife adopted two little girls, for example – one from China and one from India.)

I don’t agree with his economic ideas and I don’t share his conservative causes. We live in two different worlds. Huntsman’s father is a multimillionaire.

But he seems to be a rational human being. And he has impressive credentials.

Apparently, he did a good job as governor of Utah; he was re-elected with nearly 80 percent  of the vote. And he got good reviews as ambassador to Singapore and China. 

Considering his career, you might conclude he knows his way around this extremely complicated world of ours. He worked for Ronald Reagan as a White House staff assistant , and for George H.W. Bush as the deputy assistant secretary of commerce. As deputy United States trade representative under George W. Bush, he helped arrange China’s entry into the World Trade Organization. 

I have to assume that it’s Mitt Romney’s money that makes him so “electable.”

Rich as Huntsman is, he does not have access to the deep pockets accessible to Romney. In addition to his own $250 million, Romney can call on hundreds of millions – perhaps billions- from his Wall Street buddies.

With that kind of ammunition, you can expect him (and his super-PACs) to launch a devastating assault on President Obama.

I suppose that in today’s political world that’s what makes Republicans consider him electable.

I shudder to think of the implications. Don’t you?

Photo above left shows Huntsman with his daughter Gracie, now 12, whom he and his wife Mary Kaye adopted from China as an infant. Another daughter Asha, now 6, was adopted from India. Romney is depicted at right.