Governor Branstad says former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, a GOP candidate for president, is making a “tragic mistake” by employing a “skip Iowa” strategy.
During an appearance on ABC Television’s “This Week” program on Sunday, Huntsman took at shot at Iowa’s Caucuses.
“You know, in New Hampshire they pick presidents,” Huntsman said on ABC. “I know they pick something else in Iowa.”
The most recent Republican president, George W. Bush, won the Iowa Caucuses, and Iowa’s governor bristles at Huntsman’s comment.
“I think he’s off on the wrong track,” Branstad said this morning. “And Jon Huntsman isn’t even an asterisk when you take a poll and I had a good meeting with him in Salt Lake City and I told him he’s making a tragic mistake.”
According to Governor Branstad, the winner of the Iowa Caucuses or the candidate who beats expectations in Iowa will emerge as the primary challenger to Mitt Romney in New Hampshire.
“My prediction is that nobody will ever hear about Huntsman if he doesn’t come to Iowa,” Branstad told reporters this morning, laughing at the prospect.
Huntsman has made one trip to Iowa, visiting the State Fair before joining other Republican presidential candidates in the FOX News debate earlier this month in Ames.