Good For Huntsman To Skip Iowa

The small states that generally lead the presidential primary schedule like to flaunt their own importance, but they also secretly fret about their own potential-irrelevance. Still, no presidential candidate is bound to enter any primary they don't think is salient to their campaign, and it's good to remind the early-primary states of that fact.

Jon Huntsman doesn't want to enter the Iowa caucuses, for sound reasons, and that's OK. And I agree with him regarding ethanol: it's a cancer on American politics. Best to do without subsidies, but Iowans thrive on those subsidies. Good to remind the Iowans of their compromised status:

Former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman now says he will not compete in Iowa for his potential presidential run -- and leaders in Iowa aren't thrilled by his open snubbing of the state.

As ABC News reported over the weekend, Huntsman spoke to a crowd in New Hampshire:

"I'm not competing in Iowa for a reason. I don't believe in subsidies that prop up corn, soybeans and ethanol,"Huntsman said, according to multiple news sources at the event.

Huntsman, the former ambassador to China, continued, "I think they destroy the global marketplace.... We probably won't be spending a whole lot of time in Iowa. I guess I understand how the politics work there."