Rep. Jason Chaffetz’s travel schedule is prompting more speculation he may be laying the groundwork for a presidential bid.
Chaffetz is set to visit New Hampshire later this month. The trip comes less than 2 months after he made a trip to Iowa.
The New Hampshire Union-Leader reports Chaffetz will headline an event for the Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire where he will appear at a breakfast briefing on Benghazi and other issues.
Derek Dufresne, spokesman for Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire, said, “Especially considering New Hampshire’s own Rep. Annie Kuster’s dangerous lack of understanding surrounding the attack in Benghazi, Citizens for a Strong New Hampshire looks forward to welcoming Rep. Jason Chaffetz to New Hampshire to discuss the impact this horrific event has had on American foreign policy.
“From Benghazi to the Fast and Furious scandal, Mr. Chaffetz has been a leading voice on these and other government reform issues in the House of Representatives,” Dufresne said in a statement.
Could Chaffetz be paving the road for a White House run in 2016? Politix says it’s a long shot at best.
As a House member Chaffetz would face long odds in a presidential bid. No presidential candidate has won the presidency directly from the House since James Garfield in 1880 (and he was a senator-elect at the time). Chaffetz represents less than a million people in his district – a paltry political base from which to launch a national campaign. And Utah is as safe a Republican state as they come, so he would have to demonstrate that he had crossover appeal in swing states like Ohio, Florida, Colorado, Virginia and elsewhere.
