Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, appeared early on to be the Republican Party front runner for presidential nominee. One by one, his contenders have risen in the polls against him only to fall like cake baked in a cheap apartment oven.

Michele Bachmann was the new flavor of ice cream back in the summer. She rose like a kite in the wind only to find the wind died down naturally as wind does.

Rick Perry had a short stint as front runner, possibly based on the power of the state of Texas.

Then there was Herman Cain who rose to the top of the polls in the fall with his 9-9-9 plan only to fall by the hands of painted finger nails and swinging hips – women. Women, then, are powerful in politics if only to be used against powerful men.

Newt Gingrich is the current “not Romney” fighting claims of inconsistency and zaniness. Americans don’t like zaniness in a president (or much else). But I say this all the time so will stop now. I promise.

The Next Not-Romney

I’m guessing there will be another one or two “not Romney” contenders before the primaries are over. There are three choices for next NR – Jon Huntsman, Ron Paul and Rick Santorum. Paul, I believe, won’t make it because he has his own little cult. That leaves Huntsman and Santorum.

My guess is that it will be Huntsman. A member of my astrology meetup mentioned Huntsman way back when saying he thought this might be the man in the wings. Because of that comment, I’ve been keeping an eye on him. Huntsman hasn’t been a debate whore like the rest of the gang. That suggests some preternatural confidence.

Huntsman’s chart is about confidence.

Bachmann was the summer flavor, Perry and Cain were the fall colors and Gingrich is the winter fire. Maybe Huntsman, with sun in spring sign Aries, will be the spring flavor. Maybe more.

Jon Huntsman

Huntsman has sun in Aries. According to the Political Astrology Blog, which has claimed to discover his time of birth as 11:58 a.m., Huntsman’s moon is in Aries. That’s a double dose of Aries.

Aries is a cardinal fire sign. It’s the sign of the key phrase, “I am” and “me first.” Aries is about competition so Aries sun and moon is competition squared. This is a man who wakes up, sees the sun shine, and is already competing with his family to see who rose first.

And if he wasn’t the one to rise first, the next competition could be who showers the first. Not first in the shower? How about healthiest breakfast?

You think Huntsman’s not competitive?

I’ll bet you Romney’s $10,000 that he is. Huntsman’s sun is in the 10th house of career so everything little thing he does is about appearance.

One thing I’ve noticed about Aries that I don’t think was mentioned by the late Linda Goodman is that Aries, much like Pisces, has a certain naiveté.

Being the first sign of the zodiac, Aries is like a young child, innocent to the world and believing what others say. That does not make Aries a rule follower like Taurus and Capricorn. It just makes them unaware of the underlying motivations of their fellow men.

Aries has such a natural, childlike belief in itself that it doesn’t understand that others act out of insecurity, weakness and fear. Acting from those negative states produces ugly behavior that Aries just does not comprehend.

This naiveté for Aries provides a sort of psychic protection the way that boundaries and barriers provide a psychic protection for Capricorn. Aries, like Libra and Sagittarius, wears rose colored glasses. Aries naiveté is harder to penetrate than Libra and Sagittarius because Aries is more self-centered and draws energy from seeing itself as the light bulb in a dark room.

The rose colored glasses are cemented to the Aries face because in the end, Aries has extreme difficulty viewing life from another’s set of glasses. Libra will take off the glasses because the “other” has made that a necessity. And Sagittarius will eventually because the search for meaning allows this sign to alter its view.

Preternatural confidence is a necessity for a person who wants to be president of the United States. Huntsman both has the confidence and can handle the competition.

Huntsman’s slow, deliberate speaking style appears to arise from his Venus and Mercury in Pisces which trines Neptune in Scorpio. He may talk like a self-sacrificing, empathetic savior, and he might even see himself this way, but he’s not. He’s pure Aries.

Venus, Mercury (in Pisces) and the moon (in Aries) are all in the 9th house of philosophy, beliefs, long-distance travel and things “foreign.” This would explain Huntsman love of foreign lands. He may connect more with foreigners than with his own people.

Huntsman’s Jupiter and Saturn are in Capricorn, in square (Saturn a wide square) to the sun and moon conjunction in Aries. This is the aspect that leads me to the idea that Huntsman has a mean streak. Capricorn and Aries are two self-centered signs who want to be on top. Consequently, this aspect creates intense drive to SUCCEED.

What is success? Everyone’s definition is different. But that does not prostitute the meaning of the word success. Success still is about attainment and attainment still looks to the world and whatever the world is offering at this space of time and history. The acknowledgement of the outside world is the barometer of success. Success and social order are the tea and the tea bag.

Huntsman has all the elements in his chart – earth, air, fire and water. That does give him a nice balance that allows him to mix with the different elements of this world.

Mars in Aquarius means that Huntsman can share his success with a group, which is critical with so much self-centeredness in the chart. When he lies in bed, it’s about Huntsman but when he’s out in the world, a Cancer rising and Mars in Aquarius can convince others that while he’s got the number on his back and is running the marathon, when he crosses the finish line you cross the finish line.

Huntsman has an interesting and complex chart. He’s a mixture of shrewdness and innocence, of openness and cunning. For this double Aries (sun and moon) to stay quietly behind the scenes means he’s able to work from his Capricorn energy (Jupiter and Saturn) which quietly but ruthlessly plots and plans.

Pluto is transiting Capricorn right now and squaring Huntsman’s sun and moon. Huntsman appears much calmer than this aspect would suggest. Rather than ascending to the top of the ladder at this time, I would have suspected a fall from the ladder. Or an earthquake under the ladder.

Now I’m really wondering what is going on behind the scenes with this man.

One more thing about Capricorn — it rules the skin and knees. If the Political Astrology Blog has the correct time, Capricorn rules Huntsman’s house of health. With Pluto transiting this house, Huntsman will need to protect the knees and watch for illnesses such as arthritis and skin ailments.

I will continue watching this interesting man. I’m feeling more now from looking at his chart that he has something up his sleeve.

Maybe Huntsman is the real “not Romney.” Pretty soon we’ll know.