Is Jon Huntsman's presidential bid already dead?

Raising eyebrows, the former Utah governor's campaign manager calls it quits just weeks after Huntsman launches his run

Jon Huntsman
(Image credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Jon Huntsman's campaign manager, Susie Wiles, is resigning, the campaign said Thursday, just a month after the former Utah governor jumped into the Republican presidential nomination with a much-hyped speech at the Statue of Liberty. The moderate Huntsman, once hailed as the Republican most feared by the Obama campaign, has flopped in nearly every state and national poll, and struggled to raise money. Has Huntsman, who stepped down as President Obama's China ambassador to run, flamed out already?

No. This just signals a strategy shift: Jon Huntsman's candidacy isn't dead, says Alex Altman at TIME, but his nice-guy campaign might be. By shaking up his team — replacing Wiles with his communications director, Matt David — Huntsman is conceding that his pledge to "make civility a hallmark of his campaign" cost him dearly. He knows he "needs to sharpen his message and draw aggressive distinctions with rivals," and this staff reshuffle is a bid to find a pitch that works.

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