Chuck Todd says Obama took out a rival:
Huntsman favors civil unions for gays and had also been urging to the Republican Party to expand its tent rather than play to its base. In fact, Obama's former campaign manager, David Plouffe, said this about Huntsman recently: "I think the one person in that party who might be a potential is Gov. Jon Huntsman of Utah. I think he's really out there and speaking a lot of truth about the direction of the party."
Obama selecting him as ambassador to China, however, probably rules out the possibility that Huntsman might challenge Obama in 2012. As Politico notes, it's the equivalent of George W. Bush hiring John Edwards or Hillary Clinton in 2001-02. First Read
