Huntsman se rodea de veteranos de McCain-2000 en NH

Lo cuenta el New Hampshire Journal:

(...) He’s still the Ambassador to China for President Barack Obama, but Jon Hunstman is moving closer and closer to a run for the Republican nomination to run against his current boss.

The Horizon PAC, which is the organization acting on behalf of Ambassador Huntsman to spread the word about his potential candidacy, recently announced Peter Spaulding as its top New Hampshire advisor. Spaulding gained recognition as John McCain’s Campaign Chairman in 2000. He lost his bid to gain back his seat on the Governor’s Executive Council last year, losing in the primary to Dan St. Hilaire, who went on to win the general election. Spaulding then went on to win a seat on the Merrimack County Commission. Commissioner Spaulding has been involved in many Presidential campaigns dating back to Gerald Ford’s primary campaign against Ronald Reagan.

(...) NH Journal has learned that another Commissioner is also helping lead the charge for Huntsman in New Hampshire – former State Commissioner of Employment Security Richard Brothers.

Brothers and Spaulding grew to be close friends during McCain’s 2000 primary campaign, and Brothers hired Spaulding at Employment Security when Governor Craig Benson appointed him on his way out the door in 2004.

(...) Another close friend of Spaulding and Brothers, Bill Grimm of Franklin, has also joined the Huntsman team and will help recruit veterans for Jon Hunstman when he likely begins his campaign in May. Grimm was also a McCain 2000 supporter.

Brothers has been making calls to the media and lining up key people to make positive remarks on behalf of Huntsman after the recent shellacking by Governor John Sununu regarding a potential Hunstman candidacy.

(...) Reports have been surfacing about an early May Huntsman visit to Wayne Jennings’ group, the New Hampshire Cultural Awareness Diversity Council. Given Jennings’ remarks in Real Clear Politics earlier this week, the strategy for a Huntsman candidacy thus far seems clear: focus on undeclared voters. While on the surface some may think this is a winning strategy, even John McCain tied George W. Bush among Republicans in his stunning 2000 primary upset. Statistics show that only between 25 and 30 percent of undeclared voters will make up the total 2012 Republican primary electorate, and it is highly unlikely that Huntsman can win more than 50 percent of those voters in a crowded Republican field. Huntsman will need a big chunk of Republicans to have a shot of pulling off a McCain 2000-type victory in hopes of throwing the nomination fight on its head as the calendar turns to the more conservative South Carolina. (...)