Jon Huntsman is not even an official presidential candidate yet, but he already has an endorsement that will no doubt strengthen his credibility with social conservatives. Rob Wasinger, campaign manager for Sam Brownback’s presidential bid in 2008, has announced his early support of the would-be candidate based on Huntsman’s pro-life record.
According to LifeNews.com, Wasinger is actively encouraging Huntsman, Obama’s current ambassador to China, to seek the Republican nomination.
“While some candidates claim to be pro-life, Jon Huntsman has lived those values both in his personal life and as governor,” Wasinger told The Daily Caller. “The pro-life community needs someone who is 100 percent committed to the pro-life cause, and who can defeat President Obama next November. I truly believe that person is Jon Huntsman and I hope he will rise to the call and decide to run.”
Wasinger also ran for Congress in 2010 from Kansas’ 1st District. In the primary, however, he came in fourth with nine percent of the vote.
Evidence of Huntsman’s pro-life record can be found in three bills he signed into law while governor of Utah in 2009 that made second-trimester abortions illegal, required abortion practitioners to inform women of the pain their unborn babies would feel during an abortion, and created a legal defense fund to defend a future abortion ban.
As TheDC previously reported, a strategist aligned with the Huntsman team admitted the former governor could be at a disadvantage in socially conservative Iowa. So while other candidates court the early Iowa caucus-goers, Huntsman will likely follow a different strategy.
“We haven’t ruled out playing in Iowa, but we have a huge disadvantage when it comes to the infrastructure, money, and time other candidates have spent in Iowa,” the strategist told TheDC.