Obama to name Jon Huntsman as Ambassador to China

[JohnnyLongtorso]

http://www.abc4.com/content/news/top%20stories/story/Governor-Huntsman-to-resign-and-accept-Obama/M9g_XHw4nECKmfUlKTw3UQ.cspx

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So, one less potential 2012 contender, then.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Why in the world would someone do that?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Well, this is certainly surprising.  Excellent news for the Democrats; Huntsman was the GOP's best pick, in my view.

[Lief 🗽]

haha, gun to the knife fight indeed.

[Frodo]

Obama is one sly and crafty politician indeed -and it does raise questions on why Huntsman decided he would be better off being ambassador to China than to attempt to win his party's presidential nomination in 2012...

[Nhoj]

im guessing he figured being ambassador to china would be less stressful than being a governor in this economy.

[JohnnyLongtorso]

Maybe Obama is trying to give appointments to all 50 state governors. If he chooses Jennifer Granholm for the Supreme Court then we'll know something's up.

[Sensei]

Obama's appointments have been pretty much the most brilliant in a while. Too bad Judd Gregg got him back.

[Lunar]

It's a win-win situation.  Obama removes a potential opponent and a relatively experienced statesman who speaks fluent Chinese, Huntsman gets a prestigious job that doesn't involve balancing a recession budget

[Lunar]

Why did Obama bury this news story on a Friday evening?

[Saxwsylvania]

The happiest person tonight, however, is Mitt Romney.

[Lunar]

Also: Remember that we've had a president before who's served as ambassador to China previously

[Torie]

Huntsman wants to be president some day is my guess. It is not as Quixotic a dream as it might seem - just a long shot. He will "sell" better than Romney I would think.

[Linus Van Pelt]

Huntsman wants to be president some day is my guess. It is not as Quixotic a dream as it might seem - just a long shot. He will "sell" better than Romney I would think.

And if so, this will get him the hallowed Foreign Policy Experience.

[Meeker]

Kind of difficult to run or even prepare for a Presidential campaign when you're living in China though.

The entire thing is just sort of... bizarre.

[Lunar]

Kind of difficult to run or even prepare for a Presidential campaign when you're living in China though.

The entire thing is just sort of... bizarre.

2016.  [Or you can go from Ambassador of China to another posish like George HW Bush did]

That way he won't have a record of being a governor during the recession and can brag about his successes.

[Meeker]

Kind of difficult to run or even prepare for a Presidential campaign when you're living in China though.

The entire thing is just sort of... bizarre.

2016.  [Or you can go from Ambassador of China to another posish like George HW Bush did]

That way he won't have a record of being a governor during the recession and can brag about his successes.

Yea, I thought about that a few minutes after I posted it. He gets the Governor experience credit without having to do nasty tax increases or anything and on top of that gets some foreign policy experience. And bipartisan credentials.

[Lunar]

Odds are we're going to have some kind of flair up in China over the next 3-8 years, however long he stays there, and he can take credit for resolving it

[Mr. Morden]

Kind of difficult to run or even prepare for a Presidential campaign when you're living in China though.

The entire thing is just sort of... bizarre.

2016.  [Or you can go from Ambassador of China to another posish like George HW Bush did]

Yes, but Bush was Ambassador to China for a GOP administration, the same party whose presidential nomination he ultimately ran for.  It would be really weird for someone to hold public office for one party, serve in the administration of another party, then go back to the first party to run for president.  Not that an ambassadorship is an overly partisan position, but he will be representing the US government's positions on policy issues there, and those policies are set by Barack Obama.

And I don't know that I buy the "he has to do this to get foreign policy cred for a presidential run" meme.  He was already (briefly) ambassador to Singapore for Bush I, and then deputy US trade rep for Bush II.

I'm thinking that maybe Huntsman doesn't want to be president as badly as I thought (or he does, but doesn't think it's likely to happen).  I think his odds of ultimately running for president (whether in 2012, 2016, 2020....) have gone down with this announcement.

[Downwinder]

DAMN!!  Huntsman won't do me any good in China!  He's doing a damn good job in the Governor's office here.

[The Ex-Factor]

Well, the Chinese will certainly consider him prestigious enough for them. Apparently there were rumblings they would object over the appointment of an academic as ambassador, which was why Obama was having so much trouble filling the position.

Unless Huntsman indeed does run for President in 2016 or something, in the short term it seems to be a good political appointment.

[bgwah]

I'm feeling simultaneously better about 2012 and worse about 2016 and beyond...

[Lunar]

Kind of difficult to run or even prepare for a Presidential campaign when you're living in China though.

The entire thing is just sort of... bizarre.

2016.  [Or you can go from Ambassador of China to another posish like George HW Bush did]

Yes, but Bush was Ambassador to China for a GOP administration, the same party whose presidential nomination he ultimately ran for.  It would be really weird for someone to hold public office for one party, serve in the administration of another party, then go back to the first party to run for president.  Not that an ambassadorship is an overly partisan position, but he will be representing the US government's positions on policy issues there, and those policies are set by Barack Obama.

And I don't know that I buy the "he has to do this to get foreign policy cred for a presidential run" meme.  He was already (briefly) ambassador to Singapore for Bush I, and then deputy US trade rep for Bush II.

I'm thinking that maybe Huntsman doesn't want to be president as badly as I thought (or he does, but doesn't think it's likely to happen).  I think his odds of ultimately running for president (whether in 2012, 2016, 2020....) have gone down with this announcement.

I disagree with you to some extent.  If he concluded that he and Romney couldn't both be in the race in 2012 (and he might not want to take on Obama in the general anyway), and he was seeking an "out" so that he could respectfully leave his position before raising taxes/seeing job loss/cutting social programs and claim his governorship was successful, what better way than a prestigious position such as this?

I think this signals that he's not zeroing in on the White House, but I doubt he's necessarily any less interested in it in the long run.

[The Mikado]

I hope he can work some of that 80% approval magic on China's perception of us. 

Seriously, good luck.  I hope he's thought through trading the gorgeous Salt Lake City and its clear air for smog-ridden Peking.

[Sam Spade]

So I guess Huntsman's odds of President rose from about 1% to about 0%.  Sounds about right.