Hard to find a moderate Republican these days? So check the Dems' party! Check. Then check China! Check. Huh?
Erstwhile Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Jr. got himself appointed to the post of ambassador to the People's Republic last weekend, and it's tempting to brush this off as Obama smoothly exiling a moderate Republican out of the country. But there's more at play here.
The dude was close to entering the field for the 2012 GOP nomination. Listen to a guy who was in the know, one of McCain's strategists in 2000 and 2008: "He had not made a decision to run for president, but he had made a decision to prepare to run. We were probably a month away from announcing the formation of a political action committee, so we were pretty far down the road," said John Weaver.
Don't be fooled by Huntsman's old job as chief exec of the reddest state in the union. He came out for civil unions last year. He liberalized liquor laws. He's considered a friend of the environment. He was term-limited and in his second term.
And it appears Huntsman's political future is hardly harmed by this appointment; it boosts his bipartisan cred, gets him out of that small-state-governor box (you watching, Sarah?) and it gives him additional foreign policy experience. And who wants to run against BHO in 2012? Big gamble. Especially with another Mormon (Mitt Romney) in the field? Oh yeah, fun fact: Huntsman completed his LDS mission in Taiwan almost 30 years ago.
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