The Washington Post has a longer piece up that carefully examines the ties that bind prospective Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Jon Huntsman Jr.
"The respective former governors of Utah and Massachusetts have vast fortunes, silver tongues and great hair. They are also distant cousins, descended from a Mormon apostle who played a key role in the faith's founding. The two men enjoyed the early support of powerful and devout fathers and performed the church's missionary work — Romney in France during the Vietnam War and Huntsman in Taiwan."
The article traces back the ties between the Romney and Huntsman clans: Huntsman's grandfather David Haight was "best friend(s) growing up" with George Romney, Mitt's father; Huntsman's mother Karen once roomed with Romney's sister Jane; and Huntsman's uncle Bruce Haight once dated Romney's sister Lynn.
The Post proffers that a schism between Romney and Huntsman emerged in 1999 when Mitt was chosen to be CEO of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics — a position Huntsman apparently coveted.
e-mail: jaskar@desnews.com