The Republican presidential debate Thursday evening in Iowa is a big deal for Jon Huntsman.
The former Utah governor and ambassador to China will appear alongside his Republican rivals for the first time, and in a state where he remains little known in the race for the Republican presidential nomination.
Add to that the confusion over Jeb Bush, Jr.’s endorsement announcement, and the challenge for the Huntsman campaign is even a little greater.
Huntsman’s rocky start, low poll numbers, staff turmoil and the reluctance on the part of many tea party members to embrace his candidacy make for a less than comfortable combination going into the debate.
“Huntsman is going to need to work overtime to win support from the tea party movement, although I still see the race as being wide-open for the best candidate,” Tea Party Express spokesperson Levi Russell told The Daily Caller. “We’ll be watching his performance and look forward to hearing substantive solutions to our nation’s fiscal woes.”
As far as the political polls go, Huntsman remains stagnant and in the low single digits. The most recent Gallup poll had him at two percentage points. Pew also had Huntsman polling at two percentage points recently, as did Rasmussen. A CNN poll showed him at just one percentage point. (RELATED: Jeb Jr. endorses Huntsman)
Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow and polling expert at the American Enterprise Institute, told TheDC that despite the low numbers, all hope is not lost on Huntsman. In fact, he’s “wise” to be doing it.
“I think he will get a few points just for showing up,” said Bowman. “That said, all the second and third tier candidates need exposure, and the debate will give him that. If he could challenge some of the other Republicans in the debate, that might make it interesting and give him more ink.”
But the good news for Huntsman maybe that he has downplayed any success in Iowa. He has spent little time in the state and a spokesperson for the campaign told TheDC earlier this year that the Hawkeye State wouldn’t have a major role in his strategy.
But one GOP source in Iowa told TheDC that the low expectations could also backfire among Iowa caucus-goers.
“His late entry, today’s Jeb Bush endorsement, and not playing the Iowa retail politics game is killing him,” said the source. “Huntsman and Romney are the only two candidates to refuse to sign the Strong America Now pledge, [and] with 20,000 Iowa petitioners and nearly 30,000 nationwide, it will kill both of them.”
Regardless, the Huntsman campaign is calling it what it is — the candidate’s first real introduction on the national stage. (RELATED: Five things to watch for in the GOP debate)
“Governor Huntsman is looking forward to introducing himself to voters as a candidate who actually has a track record of conservative governance that led to job creation,” Huntsman spokesperson Tim Miller explained to TheDC. “The kind of record the party is going to need if we’re going to beat President Obama next November.”
The Jeb Bush, Jr. endorsement blew up Tuesday, after an advisory released by the campaign teased a “major announcement.”
Immediately, speculators seized on former Governor Jeb Bush.
While they were quickly shot down after two sources told Politico it was likely Jeb’s son and namesake, the damage was already done.
In the aftermath, some went after chief strategist John Weaver, who was the recently the subject of harsh criticism surrounding the Huntsman campaign.
One Florida Republican strategist told TheDC that “the endorsement of Jeb, Jr. isn’t even a ‘major announcement’ in Florida, let alone a national campaign and John Weaver knows it.”
“The only logical explanation for a blunder of this magnitude is that Weaver and Huntsman realized, too late, that the endorsement wasn’t coming from the real Governor Bush,” added the strategist.
Rick Wilson, a media consultant based in Florida told TheDC, “I still keep wondering why such a smart guy has himself so tricked by John Weaver’s ‘We’ll win the New York Times Editorial Board Primary, then we’ll be unstoppable!’ strategy.”
Nevertheless, Jeb, Jr. is now onboard the campaign to lead the youth outreach effort. The campaign noted for TheDC “we were and are excited to have Jeb leading our youth outreach, which is an important part of our campaign. Plus, he’s the first Bush to endorse.”