Huntsman as Independent Candidate for President?

An op-ed from LZ Granderson at CNN bemoans the forced choice between the Democrats and Republicans, and argues that John Huntsman should run as an Independent candidate for president in 2012:

Primaries have an assortment of personalities to sort through early on, but at the end of the day, the general election often forces us into a this-or-that, the lesser-of-two-evils scenario. . . .

Huntsman's showing a bit more personality now, and he is unveiling a jobs package ahead of Obama and Mitt Romney. But the reality is, it doesn't matter. He effectively eliminated his chances of making conservatives swoon, and thus winning the GOP nomination, when he tweeted that he believes in evolution and global warming.

But in closing the GOP door, he opened the independent window. It would seem that if Huntsman is still serious about being the next president of the United States, then instead of trying to win over the social conservatives who never liked him anyway, he should reboot his campaign and run as an independent . . .

When voters are forced between what they believe is right for the country and their civil rights or the civil rights of others they're not really weighing legislative options, they're deciding which limb to cut off . . .

Like Perot I don't know if Huntsman is the best person for the job, but what I do know is compare his on-the-job performance with the rest of field, and you will see he is not out of his league.  He's just playing for the wrong team.

Some might question whether it is already too late for someone like Huntsman to pull an Independent campaign together for the 2012 election, securing ballot access across the country etc.  However, as we all know, Americans Elect is already working to gain ballot access in all 50 states.  So the question becomes: can someone like Huntsman win the Americans Elect direct primary?