GOP Contender: 'Non-Aggression' Pact With WH

Politico reports:

Jon Huntsman is trying out a novel strategy: running for president without criticizing the incumbent by name. Since returning from his post as ambassador to China last month, Huntsman has made scant mention of the man who appointed him in May 2009 -- President Barack Obama.

And his would-be campaign officials say that won’t change when the former Utah governor officially launches his campaign. Obama’s political team has so far returned the courtesy.

Even as they blast out a seemingly endless stream of attacks on Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty, Huntsman’s two establishment GOP rivals, the DNC is issuing few press releases and pushing little opposition research about the man who until the end of April served in the administration. It amounts to a de facto non-aggression pact that is as unconventional as it is tenuous.

With a Republican primary electorate convinced Obama is doing grave damage to the country, it’s difficult to see how bloodless rhetoric about the administration and generalized talk about America’s challenges are the recipe for victory.

And if Huntsman emerges as a strong contender, it’s improbable to think that a White House that affirmed his political potential by dispatching him to far-off Beijing would let him rise unchecked.