Huntsman Campaign Gets Aid From Group Tied to Father

[alp227]

Source: NYT

In the most frequently shown Republican campaign commercial here so far, a grouchy cast of characters complain that “no one has shown up we can trust as a conservative.” The presidential candidate they are searching for, the commercial concludes, is former Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr. of Utah, to which one of the characters harrumphs, “Why haven’t we heard of this guy?”

The answer to that question is simple: money. Mr. Huntsman’s campaign, which is betting entirely on a strong showing in New Hampshire to stay alive, has relatively little. The commercial came not from the Huntsman campaign, but from a group called Our Destiny PAC.

The group, financed in part by Mr. Huntsman’s billionaire industrialist father and guided by one of his former political advisers, has breathed new life into a campaign that otherwise lacks the resources to do much more than literally go door to door seeking votes.

Aides acknowledge that if Mr. Huntsman is to have any chance at pulling off an upset victory here — and they say that is still possible in this highly volatile Republican race — he is going to need Our Destiny PAC to keep its ads on the air until the primary on Jan. 10. But, prohibited by law from collaborating with the political action committee, aides are supposed to have no control over what the group does, despite its intimate ties to the campaign.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/us/politics/jon-huntsmans-cash-poor-campaign-gets-help-from-father.html?pagewanted=all

[rurallib]

1. "dad - can you buy me the presidency?"

[MADem]

4. Hasn't that been the GOP paradigm of late? nt

[MADem]

2. That ad IS raising his profile--it's annoying but effective.

He doesn't need to pull up an upset--he just needs to "show." If he gets any respectable numbers, he can build on that.

[Mnpaul]

3. I don't care how much daddy gives him

I seriously doubt the Republicans will vote for someone that worked in the Obama administration

[No Elephants]

5. Meh. He can pass that off as patriotism and service.

Mittens, on the other hand, has flip flopped on every single issue near and dear to the heart of the right and gave us Romneycare, on which Obama (rather cleverly) admits he based his health care plan. That is big double trouble.

Newt has had a shameful past: had to resign from the House, cheated on two wives--and was for a mandate in health care before he was against it. And, not only is Newt Catholic, but he is a Catholic convert. (Ironic, for a three times married man.) So, fundies have to get past that, too.

Huntsman, on the other hand, is a Mormon, but, then again, so is Romney. So, if you can get past the Mormon thing, you might well go with a patriotic, country servin' reliable conservative, like Huntsman.

And, if you can't get passed that, you just have to hang your head and vote for the ethically challenged, maritally challenged Gingrich and STFU around Democrats about family values and morals. ("I'll see your trumped up impeachment and raise you the first and only fine ever imposed upon a Speaker of House for ethics violations. I'll see your cheating on Hillary and raise you two Mrs. Gingriches. And so on.")

Not exactly an embarrassment of riches for the Rethugs, is it? More like just an embarrassment.

[dimbear]

6. Huntsman needs to let people know he comes from enormous money.

There is no one thing the Republicans respect more than a birthright.