Politico’s Jonathan Martin reports,
Former China Ambassador Jon Huntsman took his first step toward a presidential run Tuesday, creating a federal political action committee that will allow him to travel and raise money in the weeks before he’s expected to formally announce a bid.
Moving swiftly since his return to Washington from Beijing Friday, Huntsman filed paperwork with the Federal Election Committee to begin “H PAC,” an organization that his aides say will be the last placeholder before a full-blown campaign. There will be no testing-the-waters entity or exploratory committee.
Huntsman clearly seems like he’s running, and I can’t help thinking the killing of Osama bin Laden may even help him a bit.
Huntsman has perhaps the best foreign policy credentials of any GOPer in the field, but the fact that he is inextricably tied to Obama is an obvious problem.
But now that Obama has enhanced his national security credentials with the death of bin Laden, is it possible Huntsman can “hug” Obama on foreign policy — while attacking him on the economy?
Just a thought — but it is perhaps a plausible way for him to navigate these rough waters…