The Mitt Romney campaign is downplaying his decision to skip the Iowa straw poll and Jon Huntsman’s camp is mum on why he won’t show up at Monday’s Republican presidential debate.
But the reaction among pundits and political observers is that both candidates are making a big mistake.
Here’s a statement from Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn: “I’ll leave it to the pundits and voters to assess the wisdom of skipping an event of tremendous importance to tens of thousands of Iowa Republicans and caucus-goers. More than ever, Iowa Republicans are energized and motivated to utilize the Ames Straw Poll as a catalyst toward building a 99-county organization to deny President Obama a second term.”
And at Slate.com, John Dickerson weighs in: “In the Iowa Republican political family, this is the equivalent of saying you’re not coming to Thanksgiving dinner.”
And at Slate.com, John Dickerson weighs in: “In the Iowa Republican political family, this is the equivalent of saying you’re not coming to Thanksgiving dinner.”
As for Huntsman, he has flatly indicated that he will not compete in the Iowa caucuses in February and will concentrate on New Hampshire. So, reports indicate the former Utah governor’s decision to skip the CNN debate on Monday, the first in the Granite State, has Republicans confused. And feeling snubbed.
“As a guy who has said publicly he’s going to skip Iowa, it seems like he’d want to be here for that debate,” said Fergus Cullen, a former New Hampshire GOP chairman who met Huntsman at one of his early events in Durham. “It’s the first real debate and for a guy who seems to be all-in in New Hampshire …”
It’s only June 2011 and the GOP presidential primary race has already produced more mysteries and mistakes — and drama — than the entire 2008 Republican primary season.
