Jon Huntsman borrows from John McCain

???initialComments:true! pubdate:01/09/2012 10:41 EST! commentPeriod:14! commentEndDate:1/23/12 10:41 EST! currentDate:1/14/12 7:0 EST! allowComments:true! displayComments:true!Posted by Rachel Weiner at 10:41 AM ET, 01/09/2012

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) may have endorsed Mitt Romney, but it’s Jon Huntsman who has his campaign slogan.

A new ad 60-second called “Country First” features a clip from the Sunday NBC News debate in which the former Utah governor defended his work as ambassador to China for the Obama administration.

“[Romney] criticized me while he was out raising money for serving my country in China,” Huntsman said, going on to compare being an ambassador to serving in the Navy. “I will always put my country first, and I think that’s important.”

According to Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller, the campaign raised more than $100,000 in a fundraising drive to get the ad on the air in New Hampshire.

“Country First,” was a McCain campaign slogan in 2008; he went on to call his post-election political action committee by the same name.

It’s not surprising that Huntsman would take a page from the McCain playbook: Many of Huntsman’s top advisers are McCain campaign veterans.

It’s Huntsman’s second ad buy in New Hampshire; his first was for $200,000.

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