Romney surrogate says no way forward for Huntsman after NH

MANCHESTER, N.H. — Jon Huntsman topped out his support in New Hampshire and has no viable way forward in his quest for the GOP presidential nomination, former Gov. John Sununu (R-N.H.) told The Hill.

“I don’t think it will make much difference whether he goes [to South Carolina] or doesn’t go,” said Sununu, a prominent Mitt Romney surrogate, on the night of Romney’s win in the first-in-the-nation primary. “I don’t see how he can mount a campaign in a short period of time [in South Carolina] when he's found it almost impossible to mount a decent campaign over six months in New Hampshire.”

Sununu, who campaigned heavily for Romney in the months leading up to the primary, called Romney’s victory a “strong, strong win.”

But he acknowledged Romney is running against a strong field, and anticipated that Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul would give Romney a tough fight in upcoming states.

“I think it’s important for people to realize that this is not going to be over quickly,” Sununu said. “It's going to take some time, but this is a campaign that Gov. Romney’s people have designed, and they’re going to take it one state at a time.”

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