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Thought the New Hampshire primary was all about the Republicans? Technically, you'd be right. But the results that show Jon Huntsman managed to snag a third place finish, nipping at the heels of Ron Paul (although still well behind first place finisher Mitt Romney), have people talking about a certain well known Democrat. Specifically the one sitting in the White House.
Huntsman scored the votes from New Hampshire residents most satisfied with Barack Obama's presidency. And it's no surprise he's out thanking his funny video making, Twitter-happy eldest daughters Liddy, Abby, and Mary Anne this morning. They're bringing a bit of the Barack Obama effect we saw in the 2008 election season over to the Republican side.
Popular with young voters and women, Obama was the surprise guy who came from the back to win the Democratic nomination in 2008. He re-energized voters, necessary voters, by talking unification instead of division, by going where they were -- online, via social media.
And so has Huntsman. The unifier who worked for the Obama administration as ambassador to China even as a Republican, he was a surprise in New Hampshire too, coming from the back to handily beat Iowa's hot candidate, Rick Santorum. Huntsman is happy to have snagged 17 percent of the vote (compared to Paul's 23 and Romney's 39).
With his "girls" beside him, Huntsman is keying into the young, the people who need a push to vote, and the women. He might be a pro-life candidate who made abortions more difficult to obtain when he was governor of Utah, but the most visible faces in his campaign are all female. And not just any females: his daughters, women he's put first in his life. YOUNG, social-media savvy women.
Sound like anyone you may have heard of?
Happily enjoying his push to the forefront, Huntsman gave the "Jon 2012 girls" a shout out yesterday when he told reporters that his competitors have been pulling out all the high-profile help they can, while he's sticking with "his girls."
If they can keep it up, the question in November may be: can the president out-Obama himself?
Image via Jon2012
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