Daughters Serve as Huntsman Advance Team

This article has been updated.

 Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman's three eldest daughters -- Liddy, Mary Anne, and Abby -- have become somewhat of a sensation for their social media and online video posts in support of their dad. Now, if only Huntsman himself could catch such fire.

While Abby Huntsman stayed behind in New Hampshire to help campaign, Liddy and Mary Anne hit Columbia's Vista section on Thursday night ahead of the Jan. 21 primary to help boost their father's fledgling presidential campaign in South Carolina, where he has consistently polled at or near the bottom in polls.

"We don't do policy," Mary Anne Huntsman told Patch as they walked the few blocks between events Thursday night -- the first an online appearance on Pub Politics, the second a brief speech before nearly two dozen members of the Capital City Republican Women. What the young women do instead is add a modern twist to traditional politicking. 

The peripatetic young women, perhaps best known by their Twitter handle @Jon2012Girls, flew in from New Hampshire earlier in the day, and planned to fly back Friday. Together, they function as young, hip, media-savvy avatars for their dad.

"Liddy, she is kind of the social media girl," said Mary Anne. "She created our Twitter account, and obviously we didn't know it would go this viral. It's just a fun way to let the world know what we're seeing behind the scenes."

The girls have been here before, and the state will begin to see more of them next week following the New Hampshire primary, they said. Huntsman has staked nearly his entire campaign on a strong Granite State showing and has spent little time in this state.

Not to worry, said Mary Anne. The girls and their candidate father plan to hit South Carolina more extensively next week after New Hampshire.

"We're ready to come here after New Hampshire," said Mary Anne. "New Hampshire really sets the stage for the rest of the country, and I think South Carolina does equally as well. But I think New Hampshire right now is where we've spending a lot of time and focusing all our efforts, hoping to come in first or second. Then we'll gear up for South Carolina."

At least one Huntsman advisor in South Carolina, Columbia-based political guru Richard Quinn, , which has decided the eventual GOP nominee every election cycle since 1980.

The campaign so far has depended largely on well-known political surrogates, such as Quinn, to promote Huntsman on the ground.

"We've had some very great endorsements here," said Mary Anne. "We've had (former S.C. Attorney General) Henry McMaster, we've had (current Attorney General) Alan Wilson, the (Carroll) Campbell family. So we have a pretty good setup here when it's time to get to South Carolina. We're ready to come here next week and work our hardest."

But it likely will take more than endorsements and a wealth of YouTube hits and Twitter followers to turn the nut in South Carolina, especially with just a little more than two weeks to go before the state's GOP primary. There is something to be said for sustained, face-to-face, good old-fashioned retail politics -- the kind that helped propel underdog Rick Santorum to a spectacular second-place finish in Iowa earlier this week.

Mary Anne and Liddy said wait until after New hampshire, where they expect their father to make a splash that will propel him into South Carolina. 

"I think we've seen a lot of enthusiasm at all the events [in New Hampshire], and I think we're going to see a big surge with my dad," Mary Anne told Patch. "Because the more people that get to know him and hear him speak, they all sign up. He's exactly what we need in our country. We're hoping to exceed expectations -- and that would be winning…. We're really excited to get back to South Carolina next week. We can't wait."

Arriving at their second event, the girls spoke briefly for their dad after following another political surrogate earlier in the night, . 

The daughters said they hoped voters would take a "first look" at their father.
"He is the modern candidate," Libby Huntsman told the small crowd. "Something’s just a little different about him and I think our country is just aching for a new type of candidate with a new kind of resume."

And with an aching to unseat Obama paramount among the GOP electorate, the daughters argued that in a general election their father would be the most electable among the current GOP crop. Political analysts and pundits seem to think that way, too. Calling him probably the truest conservative in the field, they also have pointed out his likely bi-partisan appeal should he be nominated.

The GOP women at the event, however, illustrated just how far the campaign must go to make any inroads, at least here. When the girls had left, Patch asked for a show of hands among the crowd of those who planned to vote for Huntsman. Not a single hand was raised.

Only four women of the 18 left said they knew who they planned to vote for, and those votes were split among Gingrich, Santorum, and Texas Gov. Rick Perry.

"Oh, I'd vote for Huntsman if he were the nominee," said Nikki Trawick, who said she's deciding among Gingrich and Perry. Her friend Ruth Clark of Columbia agreed. But somehow, they said, Huntsman doesn't resonate with them. 

They don't care that he was President Obama's ambassador to China; they don't care that he's a Mormon. To the two women, despite his conservative bonafides as the former governor of Utah, a very, very red state, Huntsman, despite his charms, still seems too much of a "globalist" and a "moderate," when the country needs an outwardly strong, bedrock, unapologetic conservative.

And then, there is the fact that he simply is too unknown, having spent perhaps too much of his time in New Hampshire.

"He needs to find a way to break through," said Trawick. "I just think he's put all his eggs in one basket, in New Hampshire."

Original post: Two of Jon Huntsman's three daughters, perhaps best known by their Twitter handle @Jon2012Girls, hit Columbia Thursday night to help boost their father's fledgling presidential campaign.

"We don't do policy," Mary Anne Huntsman told Patch. The peripatetic young women function as young, hip, media savvy avatars for their dad instead.

The girls have been here before, and the state will begin to see more of them next week following the New Hampshire primary. Huntsman has staked his campaign on a strong Granite State showing and has spent little time in this state.

Not to worry, said Mary Anne. The candidate plans to hit South Carolina extensively next week.

Check back later with Patch for a full report.