Chait doesn't understand why Obama is applying it to Jon Huntsman. Larison laughs as Team Huntsman attempts to spin the president's words of praise:
Huntsman supporters are very entertaining, and I’m looking forward to several more months of this sort of comedy. They understand that Huntsman is pretty much doomed in the primaries by his association with Obama, but for whatever reason they want to repeat as often as possible Obamas assessments of Huntsman’s electability, Obamas decision to appoint him as ambassador, and Obamas supposed fear of a Huntsman nomination. This is rather odd reverse psychology. It’s as if they’re saying, “The only way to beat Obama is to take Obama’s advice on choosing the candidate he thinks would be most effective against him, so trust Obama when he says that Huntsman is electable! Obama wouldn’t lie about a thing like that!” I submit that this is a losing message.