Republicans Bummed About Huntsman

Obama appointed Jon Huntsman, Utah Governor, to be ambassador to China. David Frum writes:

It's a brilliant appointment from the point of view of the political interests of Barack Obama. Gov. Huntsman's intellect, his popularity in his state, his undoubted conservatism combined with his open-minded new approaches on social issues and the environment - not to mention his enormous personal wealth - positioned him as the natural leader of the reform forces within the GOP. By sending him across the Pacific, President Obama has acted deftly to enhance the continuing dominance of the Republican faction that serves him best. The Limbaugh-Obama axis wins again!

Obama Names Jon Huntsman Ambassador to China

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

Jon Huntsman to be Named Ambassador to China

President Barack Obama plans to name Utah Gov. Jon M. Huntsman Jr., a rapidly rising star in the Republican Party, as ambassador to China, a senior administration official said.

The move is freighted with political intrigue. Huntsman, who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, quickly emerged after November as one of the leading moderate GOP voices.

Huntsman is often mentioned as a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2012, although some of his advisers think the party primary voters will be more prepared to accept his moderate views on the environment and gay rights in 2016.

Huntsman, who met with Obama’s transition team to discuss energy policy, was in Washington on Friday night, ahead of a planned Saturday announcement by the White House, The Salt Lake Tribune reported. Several Utah news organizations said the governor will resign and accept the appointment.

Huntsman, 49, served a Mormon mission in Taiwan. The governor and his wife, Mary Kaye, adopted a daughter, Gracie Mei, from China in 1999. In 2006, he led a trade mission to China "because of their prominence on the world stage and the way in which they are growing so rapidly," he told the Deseret Morning News of Salt Lake City. Politico