Talk Elections

Election Archive => 2012 Elections => Topic started by: RIP Robert H Bork on May 15, 2009, 10:23:03 PM



Title: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: RIP Robert H Bork on May 15, 2009, 10:23:03 PM
https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=96061.0 (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=96061.0)
See also http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22589.html (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0509/22589.html)

Apparently Obama is naming Huntsman ambassador to China, and the very first post of the first link suggests that it was a move by Obama looking toward 2012.

Did Obama name Huntsman ambassador to China to remove him as a 2012 candidate?


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: WalterMitty on May 15, 2009, 11:04:25 PM
huntsman is thinking 2016.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Eraserhead on May 15, 2009, 11:38:11 PM
Obama is a crafty bastard.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: ilikeverin on May 15, 2009, 11:49:31 PM
Good choice.

(And smart move on his part, avoiding 2012 at least; like it or not, the economy will have recovered by then, and Obama will largely be credited with it (deservedly or not!))


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Lunar on May 15, 2009, 11:55:19 PM
Now if he just names Romney as ambassador to Utah, Obama should have an easier opponent in 2012


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Rob on May 16, 2009, 12:07:33 AM

I'm thinking "Henry Cabot Lodge."


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Tender Branson on May 16, 2009, 12:12:07 AM
Awesome !

Sending your top Republican foes 5000 miles away into exile so they lose touch with whats going on in the US ...

What a strategery !


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: RI on May 16, 2009, 12:16:35 AM
So, will Romney run for Governor of Utah now?


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Lunar on May 16, 2009, 12:17:34 AM
So, will Romney run for Governor of Utah now?

He sold his house there, prob not.  Being associated with Utah is what he's trying to get away from.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Zarn on May 16, 2009, 12:53:17 AM
Everyone is acting like Huntsman had no choice in this. Huntsman has a plan. None of us know what, and I'm sure he prefers it that way.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: pbrower2a on May 16, 2009, 05:08:11 AM
Good choice.

(And smart move on his part, avoiding 2012 at least; like it or not, the economy will have recovered by then, and Obama will largely be credited with it (deservedly or not!))

It says much about Barack Obama: put potential  rivals who have great competence in difficult positions (Ambassador to China is as tough a job as there is) where they can do more good for hum than they can do harm as rivals.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: big bad fab on May 16, 2009, 05:30:30 AM
So, will Romney run for Governor of Utah now?

In France, during the 1980s and 1990s, Chirac was mayor of Paris and congressman from Corčez, in the center of France, 400 kms away.

I think Mitt should be elected Gov of Utah, Sen of NH and Rep of Michigan and it will be OK for 2012....!


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: WalterMitty on May 16, 2009, 07:53:52 AM

in that case, i look forward to the nh write in campaign


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Progressive on May 16, 2009, 11:21:23 AM
Obama/Huntsman 2012?

Now that's a ticket


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Verily on May 16, 2009, 11:23:26 AM
So, will Romney run for Governor of Utah now?

In France, during the 1980s and 1990s, Chirac was mayor of Paris and congressman from Corčez, in the center of France, 400 kms away.

I think Mitt should be elected Gov of Utah, Sen of NH and Rep of Michigan and it will be OK for 2012....!

Can't be a Governor if you don't live in the state, though. It's illegal. (Same with Congressman and Senator, although you can live in the state but outside your district as a Congressman.)


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Saxwsylvania on May 16, 2009, 12:46:39 PM
Good choice.

(And smart move on his part, avoiding 2012 at least; like it or not, the economy will have recovered by then, and Obama will largely be credited with it (deservedly or not!))

That's an awfully confident prediction.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Senator Robert A. Taft on May 16, 2009, 01:51:34 PM
Brilliant move by Obama.  Huntsman was a top contender for 2012.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: ilikeverin on May 16, 2009, 05:36:06 PM
Good choice.

(And smart move on his part, avoiding 2012 at least; like it or not, the economy will have recovered by then, and Obama will largely be credited with it (deservedly or not!))

That's an awfully confident prediction.

We haven't had a recession last four years since the Great Depression (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recessions_in_the_United_States).  And research in political science has shown that the public pretty much goes to the President when they're looking for someone to credit/blame for economic circumstances.  These two facts point towards my prediction.  If John McCain had won somehow last November, I'd be predicting the same about him; the recession struck at a very convenient time for the winner of last year's elections.

Obviously I'll be proved completely wrong and in that case you may wear my quote around in your sig for a while, but...


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: justfollowingtheelections on May 16, 2009, 05:52:05 PM
Huntsman wasn't planning to run against Obama anyway.  Who knows, he might even become a Democrat by then...


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Magic 8-Ball on May 16, 2009, 06:14:29 PM
Smart move, indeed.  Much smarter than, say, trying to appoint Judd Gregg to Commerce.  Send Huntsman to a county to which he already has ties.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Nutmeg on May 16, 2009, 10:26:03 PM
I really don't think so.  It's not like he forced Huntsman to do it.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: big bad fab on May 17, 2009, 10:47:03 AM
Huntsman may well have a fine period as ambassador during 3 years and come back to run in the GOP primaries, with an interesting international experience, maybe with a speech on defending poor American workers against Chinese industries.

As a governor with a high approval rating, he'll quit at the right moment and will be remembered as a good executive.

Can you have a better profile in 2012 ?


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: big bad fab on May 17, 2009, 10:48:19 AM
So, will Romney run for Governor of Utah now?

In France, during the 1980s and 1990s, Chirac was mayor of Paris and congressman from Corčez, in the center of France, 400 kms away.

I think Mitt should be elected Gov of Utah, Sen of NH and Rep of Michigan and it will be OK for 2012....!

Can't be a Governor if you don't live in the state, though. It's illegal. (Same with Congressman and Senator, although you can live in the state but outside your district as a Congressman.)

I know, I was just kiddin'.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: YRABNNRM on May 17, 2009, 12:56:02 PM
In the climate of the GOP today, Huntsman really had no chance at the nomination any way so I doubt Obama thought he was that much of a threat. If anything, he did so to remove a moderate voice in the GOP in order to keep the party on the side of extremism, which of course benefits Obama and his policies.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: pbrower2a on May 17, 2009, 08:27:50 PM
Huntsman may well have a fine period as ambassador during 3 years and come back to run in the GOP primaries, with an interesting international experience, maybe with a speech on defending poor American workers against Chinese industries.

As a governor with a high approval rating, he'll quit at the right moment and will be remembered as a good executive.

Can you have a better profile in 2012 ?

More relevant in 2016, though. The 2012 Presidential election looks like a longshot for any Republican unless something goes wrong with a ticker or someone does a John Wilkes Booth.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Frodo on May 17, 2009, 09:01:18 PM
Yes, obviously. 


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: big bad fab on May 18, 2009, 02:26:46 AM
Huntsman may well have a fine period as ambassador during 3 years and come back to run in the GOP primaries, with an interesting international experience, maybe with a speech on defending poor American workers against Chinese industries.

As a governor with a high approval rating, he'll quit at the right moment and will be remembered as a good executive.

Can you have a better profile in 2012 ?

More relevant in 2016, though. The 2012 Presidential election looks like a longshot for any Republican unless something goes wrong with a ticker or someone does a John Wilkes Booth.

Sure, I agree with you on the quite likely result of 2012 elections,

but, being one Huntsman, you may well try to become the GOP candidate, to be beaten by Obama but not too much, to reach a better result than expected and so, becoming the GOP's saviour, you have no problem at all in being chosen in 2016 against too much conservative Jindal and Thune.

Some candidates in the past tried one or more times before succeeding in !
Not much, granted... Very few, in fact...
But I've been just trying to show that Huntsman is not out for 2012...


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Lincoln Republican on May 18, 2009, 09:14:55 PM
No, Obama did not name Huntsman Ambassador to China to remove him as a potential competitor in 2012.

Anyone who looks at Huntsman's qualifications will realize that he is supremely qualified to be Ambassador to China.

He speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, has had trade experience in government, has had executive government leadership in the capacity of Governor, and is a proven organizer and leader.

Clearly Obama wants this key assignment handled by someone capable of delivering the goods, and Huntsman has the proven record and the ability to do so.

Obama has made some of his appointments, at least, without partisan consideration, this among them, and for this he is to be commended.

This appointment follows Lincoln's example of naming the most qualified, whether they have been a supporter in the past or not.   

Besides, I do not believe that 2012 will be a good year for any Republican Presidential nominee.  2016 will be much better.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: pbrower2a on May 18, 2009, 10:07:21 PM
No, Obama did not name Huntsman Ambassador to China to remove him as a potential competitor in 2012.

Anyone who looks at Huntsman's qualifications will realize that he is supremely qualified to be Ambassador to China.

He speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, has had trade experience in government, has had executive government leadership in the capacity of Governor, and is a proven organizer and leader.

Major qualifications indeed! Not many Americans not of Chinese origin speak fluent Mandarin, and I'm not sure that I would trust a native speaker of Chinese as Ambassador to China (the Foreign Ministry would play the nuance game with such a person.

Quote
Clearly Obama wants this key assignment handled by someone capable of delivering the goods, and Huntsman has the proven record and the ability to do so.

Obama has made some of his appointments, at least, without partisan consideration, this among them, and for this he is to be commended.

In a huge departure from his predecessor, Obama shows that he does not need flunkies in the most important jobs in the US government. Huntsman will absolutely not be a flunky. I can't imagine a more important diplomatic post.

Quote
This appointment follows Lincoln's example of naming the most qualified, whether they have been a supporter in the past or not.

Besides, I do not believe that 2012 will be a good year for any Republican Presidential nominee.  2016 will be much better.

Indeed. I don't think that any sensible person wants 2012 to be a good year for a Republican nominee for President. We have drifted into dangerous times because of the economy alone, and we aren't going to drift out of dangerous times. A Republican winning the Presidency in 2012 indicates not so much the rise of a supremely-talented and relevant Republican nominee as it does a catastrophic failure by Barack Obama.

If Obama creates a strong GOP candidate for the Presidency in 2016 in Jon Huntsman, then so be it. We might need a strong Republican nominee for President in 2016.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Psychic Octopus on May 19, 2009, 07:40:14 PM

lol yeah

Anyway, this should silence the Huntsman!!!! talk.


Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: pbrower2a on May 19, 2009, 08:47:31 PM

Anyway, this should silence the Huntsman!!!! talk.

But not the Huntsman 2016 talk!

Obama may be creating a strong GOP candidate for the Presidential race of 2016 -- not what a  partisan hack would do, but instead what one might do if one were more concerned about ensuring the validity of the opposition within a democracy.



Title: Re: Obama to name Huntsman ambassador to China
Post by: Mr. Morden on May 20, 2009, 10:04:19 AM
Interesting story on Huntsman here:

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=bf9098d4-6b65-480f-b5dc-0ffb56844eb1&p=1

A few of the more interesting bits:

Quote
This past weekend, Obama nominated Huntsman to be ambassador to China--essentially undermining any chance that the young, moderate Republican would challenge him in 2012 by sending him to another continent for the next few years. Almost everyone I spoke with in the State Department and Utah politics confirms that the decision was not driven by Huntsman's China expertise or business experience. "We all thought it was going to be [former State Department counselor] Wendy Sherman," says one source in the State Department. "Huntsman is incredibly fit for the job and will be well-received in China, but were there political motivations behind this? Everybody here thinks so."
.
.
.
Still, the appointment appears to make a lot of sense for Huntsman. It also, of course, makes perfect sense for Obama. Sources in the State Department say that while Wendy Sherman was the front-runner for the post, the Obama camp was concerned that she was too focused on North Korea (she was the North Korea policy coordinator under Madeleine Albright) and that she was too close to Clinton. And since Timothy Geithner will be handling much of the administration's economic relations with China, the next biggest item on the agenda is collaborating with China on climate change. "The focus will shift to environment," the State Department staffer says--an issue on which Huntsman is particularly qualified. Huntsman's experience as a politician will also help him sell some of Obama's pragmatic China policies back at home.

But it is no coincidence that the impetus to appoint Huntsman came from Obama's political staff, not the State Department. It is unlikely that Obama actually felt threatened by a Huntsman run--but at the very least, confronting him in a campaign would have been tougher than running against some of the more right-wing GOP contenders. And on a broader level, by sending Huntsman to China, Obama ensures that Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney remain the chief Republican spokesmen, further alienating the party from mainstream voters in time for the 2010 midterms and even the 2012 elections. Appointing Huntsman also helps Obama shore up his bipartisan credentials after the failed debacle of his Judd Gregg appointment.

In fact, perhaps the only loser in Huntsman's appointment is the Republican Party itself. In light of Arlen Specter's defection and Tom Ridge's decision not to run for his Senate seat, the clear message is that there is no place in the party for moderate voices. Huntsman's departure clears the way for Romney to continue his ascendancy to front-runner status, unencumbered by the presence of another wealthy, Mormon, business-savvy technocrat in the race.