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Jon Huntsman (photo: saucy_pan via Flickr)
Jon Huntsman, the Mormon former Governor of Utah chosen by Barack Obama to be his ambassador to China, has resigned, effective April 30th, CNN is reporting.
U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman submitted a hand-delivered letter of resignation to President Obama Monday, effective April 30th, according to two senior administration officials.
The news comes amid speculation that the former Utah governor will run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination.
From that “amid speculation” link above:
But Republican strategists backing Huntsman – a former Utah governor now serving as U.S. Ambassador to China – say there is room for a “center-right” presidential candidate as the rest of the early GOP field races to the right.
“Everybody is gaming out 2012 as if it will be 2010, and it’s not,” said one Republican laying the groundwork for a Huntsman bid, should he decide to enter the race.
The adviser stressed that Huntsman is not involved in the details of setting up a potential campaign.
Politico ran with a “White House expects Huntsman to resign early in 2011” post earlier Monday.
GOP allies of Huntsman have already begun laying plans for a quick-start campaign should the former Utah governor decide to enter the ill-defined Republican field.
While Huntsman has no direct involvement in it, a group of operatives that could eventually comprise his strategy team has set up an entity called “Horizon PAC” to serve as a placeholder for his political apparatus.
21 Comments
I predict a very tedious “Team of Rivals” segment with Doris Kearns Goodwin on Lawrence O’Donnell’s programme this evening.
Huntsman looks like an elite pre-selected candidate. Glen Beck has been preparing the field for a while now. I wonder if his China assignment was intended to groom him, rather than eliminate him from Obama’s competition.
Nah. Obama wanted Huntsman out of the field. Now that Huntsman’s bailing on him, he’s spreading the news far and wide so right-wingers can mobilize their opposition research machines against Huntsman, so that by the time he officially steps down they’ll be ready to start slinging dirt at him.
Apparently Huntsman is qualified and very articulate – which means the wingers will never let him be the nominee.
I remember way back when Huntsman was appointed that some reported quoted either Axelrod or Rahm as saying that Hunstman was the only possible candidate they really feared.
I’m thinking that maybe Huntsman is the guy who could snag the GOP nomination — and perhaps the general election — by peeling off all those disappointed indie voters. I’m thinking that maybe an “Operation Chaos” in reverse, with disaffected Dems being urged to cross over and stop a Palin/Huck/Newt train by voting for Huntsman in states with open primaries or which allow crossover voting.
I remember that, too, and how Politico and others raved about Obama co-opting his potential opposition so early in a brilliant three-dimensional chess move.
Guess that didn’t work. Goes to show how easy it is to outsmart oneself.
I don’t know much about Huntsman. By all reports, he’s intelligent. But he’s also Mormon. Republican infighting may have just gotten a lot more interesting.
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The GOP’s hard-and-fast rule is “Whose Turn is It?” when it comes to their presidential nomination. Considering that Huckabee and Mitt both have a legitimate claim to being “next” it’s very hard for me to see Huntsman cutting ahead in line.
Of course, Glenn Beck says Huntsman’s dad is one of the greatest people on Planet Earth, and a great influence on him, so it remains to be seen if Beck can bring along the loonie right for young Jon.
Pro-civil union and pro-cap-&-trade.
Can’t see it, myself.
The Dems will lose the next Presidential election due to the disaffection of liberals and the professional left, who while they may vote will not donate or put the same boots on the ground that they did in the Change You Can Believe In election.
Also, the headline today about 1 claim out of 91,000 being paid from BP means that Florida will go Republican. Virginia will probably veer right based on how they are trending right now
It will be a Pyrrhic victory. The economy, hopelessness and despair will finally drive the unemployed, the underemployed, the homeless, the students, the uninsured and countless other completely unrepresented groups into the streets and the Republican Administration can struggle with the same response issues the Egyptians are dealing with right now.
Former President Obama will still be giving speeches calling for bi-partisanship and finishing up vols 3 and 4 of his autobiography.
Given that Huntsman accepted the Ambassadorship, wouldn’t we have to conclude there was something in it for him? Likely he gained incredible ‘business’ ties there, maybe some Mandarin language. Maybe increased his portfolo’s value.
If he is a multi-billionaire capable of self-financing, it makes him interesting as a candidate, but that can play bot ways among the electorate. The 2012 flavor of the tv political ads will be interesting to watch since we’re on track for billions to be spent. The state of the nation might either cause voters to want a Daddy or a Demagogue, or a combination of the two.
Does Huntsman have charisma, or just an Aging Ken Doll face like Romney? I binged for photos of him, and oddly photos of Wolf Spiders were in the mix…hmmm.
An unusually self-defeating appointment from a Democratic president attempting to recover from eight years of Republican foreign policy excess.
If Mr. Obama were attempting to lead his kingdom in the Middle Ages, his barons would have ousted him long before they forced King John to sign Magna Carta. Were he a Renaissance prince under Machiavelli’s tutelage, his tutor would abandon him before the walls fell. His inability to defend what he claims is his leaves a vacuum that the power of others will gladly fill, a consequence he seems content with. For shame.
Assuming that Huntsman is seriously considering a run for the office of the presidency, this is yet another name added to a growing list of Republicans vying for their party’s nomination next year. Meanwhile, knowing full well that his renomination will bring down the Democrats next year, that political party has decided to double down on its losing bet after two years of betrayals and a royal thumping at the polls last year.
I thought Obama was repeating the Clinton presidency, but as it turns out, he may be replaying the Bush Sr. dictatorship.
If he really was a strong candidate he would announce now before Mitt does why he needs every Mormon vote to shore up his support against Sarah. He needs Mitt to look like the Mormon Spoiler.
But no GOPer wants to risk running against Sarah in a poll and losing. At this time 4 years ago the GOP had how many announced candidates?
Remember Bush had tanked the economy, anti war feelings were high but still GOPers wanted to run and had campaigns in Iowa going.
Today nobody has announced although several have stealth campaigns in Iowa.
Huntsman was fluent in Mandarin prior to his appointment, but I’m sure his family’s huge chemical business wasn’t harmed by his appointment to China.
He’d have done better staying in Utah. On the one hand, his opponents can (truthfully) tie him to the Administration, on the other, if he tries to prove is Republican bona fides by attacking Obama well it would look shabby attacking the President who appointed you to a senior diplomatic post just two years ago.
When does Petreaus retire from the Army? The President would do well to offer him Chairman of the Joint Chiefs and a fifth star (assuming Congress agreed, and they would). General of the Army Petreaus would make a formidable candidate… in 2016.
This happens right after Chinese President makes personal appearance?
Sorry, misspelled the General’s name… Petraeus.
DING!
Okay, mzchief; explain it a doofus like me, please.
You’re not a doofus.
I will attempt to give you a minor synopsis of what I know from my experience, observations and extensive reading for several decades.
The central government kleptocrats are all about money and deep in with the international banksters. Hu is just the “Ronald Reagan of China” (hat tip American ex-pat Max Keiser) and everything he does is coordinated for fully consolidating a world gulag of the non-rich. Certain “churches” as the Roman Catholic, Mormon and Southern Baptist Convention are actually functionally hedge funds/banks/money movement operations once analyzed. They have been part of the kleptocratic infrastructure for some time. To cover up the rich’s stealing in Europe and steal more, the EU was formed to supercede the individual members’ sovereignty and to further indebt them. Now there’s the attempt to do this on an even larger scale including China as the international Ponzi scheme is sputtering. If it collapses, the current political status quo totally loses control.
Here’s an excellent overview bringing you further up to date: “Coming Global Currency & Goldman” (Jones might seem a bit loud and abrasive. Ignore that and listen very carefully to what ex-Wall Street insider, Max, has to say as he’s laying it all out there ahead of the power curve).
“there is room for a “center-right” presidential candidate”
Hasn’t Obama staked this out.