People knew Jon Huntsman’s presidential dreams were just that when they read his tweet last summer: “To be clear. I believe in evolution and trust scientists on global warming. Call me crazy.” The former Utah governor sealed his fate a few weeks later by speaking in Chinese during a presidential debate.
It is unclear what possessed Mr Huntsman to believe Republicans were looking for someone with qualifications. That is surely why his fellow Mormon Mitt Romney, who spent his missionary years in France, has refrained from slipping into French. It would be like playing Edith Piaf at a Nascar rally.
This year is certainly bad. But US politics has always been tough going for anyone perceived as being too intellectual (those who slip through, such as Barack Obama, are daily reminded of their vulnerability).
On being told he had the support of every thinking man in America, Adlai Stevenson, the 1950s Democratic candidate, famously replied: “Yes, but I need a majority.”
Every now and then, however, the intellectuals get itchy feet. This time it comes in the form of Americans Elect, a “third candidate” – as opposed to third party – platform that hopes to trip up the duo on the dance floor. With the exception of Thomas Friedman, the New York Times columnist, who has highlighted its transformative potential, the media has largely ignored it