Conservative Grass-roots Favorite Jason Chaffetz Chooses Mitt Romney

Here's a surprise: Tea party favorite Jason Chaffetz, the Utah congressmen likely to run for the U.S. Senate in 2012, is set to endorse Republican presidential candidate and front-runner Mitt Romney later Wednesday.

What's so odd -- apart from the fact that a desert separates Romney and the tea party movement on a host of issues -- is that Chaffetz is backing the former Massachussetts governor over former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. Chaffetz worked as Huntsman's chief of staff during his two-year employ under Huntsman.

When The Huffington Post asked him why he spurned his old boss, Chaffetz said simply that he thinks Romney has the best shot of defeating President Obama in the general election.

"I like them both, but I want to beat Barack Obama and I think Mitt Romney's in the best position to do that. I think he's the right person at the right time," Chaffetz told the Post. "It's tough for a lot of Utahns because we're having to choose among friends.

"The task of unseating an incumbent president is monumental."