The Hill: The White House is showing no signs of letting up on its campaign for Ambassador Jon Huntsman’s presidential prospects - if anything, it’s in pile-on mode.
Chief of Staff Bill Daley on Sunday heaped praise on Huntsman (R), Obama’s ambassador to China who is resigning his post and is said to be mulling a challenge to his boss for the presidency.
“He’s done an excellent job on behalf of the Obama administration,” Daley said on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” where he was barely able to suppress a smile as he spoke.
Then Daley went into overdrive. “[Huntsman’s] support of the Obama administration, his support of the president, the things he did on behalf of the administration, and the closeness in which he worked with the president is most appreciated. And I’m sure he’ll talk about that in the Republican primary.”[...]
The White House has engaged in a concerted effort to play up Huntsman’s ties to the administration, which many political observers believe would doom him with the conservative Republican base.
If the White House was half as politically astute as they pretend to be, they would realize what a needless exercise this is. Huntsman is clearly an establishment candidate and establishment candidates are as out of vogue with the base just like the phrase "Hope and Change".
Whatever appeal Huntsman may have, you can easily find those qualities in the prototype Mitt Romney.
If the administration really wants to sink Huntsman, then fine it will be one less establishment candidate the base has to worry about.
Via: Memeorandum
Via: The Hill