If Huntsman is as smart as he sounds, I'm sure he realizes the futility of running in 2012 instead of waiting till 2016.

This a big move for both Obama and Huntsman. China is the big diplomatic posting right now. It will take until 2016 for the Republican party to sort itself out. Going to China will keep Huntsman out of that fight. At the same time it will add to his already excellent foreign policy credentials. Obama gets the best trade guy available for a top diplomatic job.

Huntsman would never have won the Republican primary in 2012. He could run as an independent and I would consider voting for him.

Obama is playing some very serious chess. Very serious.

Gee, he sounds like a Rep i might actually vote for.

Oh, wait: Where's he stand on gays, abortion, and school prayer?. . .

Day, Huntsman is a Republican. What do you expect? Neither of us is going to vote for him, but he could be attractive to a lot of Americans.

I'm inclined to think that if elected to any office, Huntsman would ignore the issues of gays, abortion and school prayer. I'm sure that during a campaign he would make the customary genuflections.

-If Huntsman "pulled a Specter" and admitted to a Youthful Indiscretion when he registered as a Republican, would that make him a more attractive candidate to the Left?

Or, more importantly, the growing Middle. . .

Huntsman has been a fiscal conservative, winning Utah accolades as "Best Run State"; he is pro-life and opposed to gay marriage, yet he has come out in favor of civil unions (much to the chagrin of the far right). Huntsman is one smart dude, and we haven't heard the last of him.

So Jon Huntsman will only be 56 in 2016? Good, it means he will have 30+ more years to look forward to for bitter recriminations over losing the Presidential nomination/election - via being sandbagged by disgruntled right-wingers furious at his service under President Hussein Antichrist Obama.

And what is his opinion of Chairman Limbaugh? That alone will decide whether his political life ebbs or flows down the road, make no bones about it.

JC nailed it. Huntsman seems to be smart, and probably recognizes that the R's are so fringe now that he can't possibly get the nomination in 4 years.

After another 4 in the wilderness, perhaps the R's will see the foolishness of their ways, but I wouldn't bet on it, and it seems Huntsman isn't betting on it either.

He's getting a great, really important post, and one that sounds like it's right in his wheelhouse. BHO gets another moderate R in his crew. Looks like a very good move to me, especially since our relationship with China is ALL about business.

Huntsman won't have a chance as the republican candidate until they get the wingers under control. That's not gonna happen by 2012 at the rate they're going now, but who knows by 2016?

Utah residents should be proud...all 20 of them. Seriously, Utah is one state that should have only one senator and compared to California etc. is unfairly representative of the American population. A Utah governor has a much easier job than a Gov of NY or CA. He does sound like a good nominee for China but I'm unconvinced of anything further but am intrigued as to why Steve is so mesmerized. Is it because a decent republican is so rare...almost as rare as late term abortions.

Are you campaigning for the guy Steve?

I'M sure there were just as many qualified dems for that Ambassador position right.

Usually an ambassadorship is a "reward" for good efforts toward the present administration but maybe this time it's just based on the best qualified.

Now, will you get busy appointing new USAs getting rid of these "loyal Bushies"

Huntsman is being smart distancing himself from the fight going on in the GOP. If he harbors glimmers of ambition to be president he should forget about it for the next 2 presidential cycles. This fight is going to go on for awhile and the next GOP candidate for president may be a sacrificial elephant.

Huntsman must not of paid his taxes. Seems like that's a prereq for getting picked to join Obama's administration.

Glad that Obama picked him and saved the GOP the trouble of vetting him. Huntmans is a GOP only when it suits his career. He's a chronic poll-watcher and changes his stance whenever it suits his short-term political interests.

Kind of like John McCain. The GOP knows where that got us.

Now, as a member of the Obama administration, it will be easier to ensure Huntsman doesn't try to get the GOP nomination anytime soon.

Since Day asked...

Jon Huntsman is a Mormon, and is currently earning the ire of a good chunk of his Utah constituents for not stating that all filthy queers should be publicly stoned to death. He supported the recent Common Ground Initiative in Utah, which would have added sexual orientation and gender identity to non-discrimination laws, and given same-sex couples hospital visitation rights, the right to sue for wrongful death, and get health insurance for each other. The legislation was thoroughly killed this past session. However, back in 2004 he supported the state Constitutional amendment banning all same-sex marriage or any legal equivalent such as civil unions, so for him to come out recently saying he supported civil unions and that the law is unclear is complete and utter horseshit. The law is clear, and he supported it. This was his attempt at soothing the moderates, and Temple Square will put a quick stop to it.

The wingers will never go for him. The question is, will they remember him come 2012/16, or will the Republicans have successfully purged the Jesus freaks from the party helm so their opinion no longer matters?

If Huntsman runs in 2016, he will realize that his support for open borders and unlimited immigration will have made it impossible for any conservative candidate to ever win office again in the U.S.

I wonder how Huntsman will explain to China why he supports open borders and unlimited immigration for Hispanics but not for Asians.