Harry Reid says he'd favor Huntsman over Romney
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid said today if he had to choose between Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman in the presidential race, he'd go with what he considers the lesser of two evils: Huntsman.
Asked today to weigh in on the two Mormons in the Republican presidential primary (Reid is also Mormon), the Senate leader said, "If I had a choice I would favor Huntsman over Romney," CBS News Capitol Hill Producer John Nolen reports.
Reid said Americans aren't ready for Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, to serve as president because of his reputation as a flip-flopper. "Here's a man who doesn't know who he is," he said. "He was for gay marriage when he was governor. Now he's against it. He was for abortion when he was governor. Now he's against it."
While he was kinder to Huntsman, Reid's remarks will hardly help the GOP moderate's fledgling campaign.
Huntsman, the former Utah governor and President Obama's former ambassador to China, officially announced the start of his presidential campaign today. Meanwhile, a new poll suggests some voters could be hesitant to support Huntsman or former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney because of their Mormon faith.
In spite of whatever challenge his faith may pose, Democrats have long said they consider Huntsman a potential threat to President Obama in the 2012 race.
Mr. Obama's camp initially took the strategy Reid may have been employing today -- trying to kill Huntsman's campaign with kindness. Some speculated that Mr. Obama appointed Huntsman as ambassador in 2009 in part to remove a potential political rival. Back in January, Mr. Obama joked, "I'm sure that him having worked so well with me will be a great asset in any Republican primary."
Today, however, Mr. Obama's team stopped "embracing" Huntsman and started directly slamming him.
"In his speech, Governor Huntsman called for a more competitive and compassionate country," Ben LaBolt, a spokesperson for Mr. Obama's re-election team, said in a statement, "but he has embraced a budget plan that would slash our commitment to education, wipe out investments that will foster the jobs of the future and extend tax cuts for the richest Americans while shifting the burden onto seniors and middle class families."
Democrats across the party establishment took their turns bashing the newest GOP nominee, with a mix of criticism and false praise.
"Jon Huntsman's attractiveness as a politician was supposed to be that he was different - different enough to be a Republican governor who would take a job working for a Democratic president, and who took stands on policies like health reform, the Recovery Act and cap and trade out of principle instead of politics," Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz said in a statement. "Sadly, Jon Huntsman is not different - having reversed himself on the positions he took as governor he's now become a typical, Mitt Romney-like politician whose ambition is more important than his principles."
Democratic leaders in early primary states held teleconferences today to share their thoughts on Huntsman. "Ambassador Huntsman wants to double down on the failed economic policies that got us into this mess and well, frankly, he's just another Republican candidate," said Ray Buckley, chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party.
