Huntsman speaks in West Palm, but cuts Florida staff to focus on New Hampshire

[monmouth]

Bill Ingram/Palm Beach Post

WEST PALM BEACH — WEST PALM BEACH – Despite choosing Orlando for his campaign headquarters, Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman is shifting resources from Florida to New Hampshire, angering state party officials in the process.

Huntsman, whose national poll numbers continue to drop, spoke to a small gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition Friday, at West Palm Beach's Marriott hotel.

The speech came just hours after his campaign manager, Matt David, announced that Huntsman was reassigning staff to New Hampshire, "a move reflective of the diminished importance of Florida's P5′ (straw poll) and the campaign's focus on success in New Hampshire." The straw poll is scheduled for Sept. 24 in Orlando.

"His campaign is redefining irony today," said Brian Hughes, spokesman for the Republican Party of Florida. "On the same day that his campaign has consistently been lagging in polls, he says P5 is a diminished event. On the same day, (Rick Perry), who is leading in polls and is surging, says that P5 is tremendously important and crucial to his Florida strategy."

Rest of article at www.pbpost.com