states he has proficiency in Mandarin Chinese.
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| U.S. Ambassador to China Resigns Amid 2012 Rumors |
| 2011-02-02 |
U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman resigned Monday, amid reports that he may seek the Republican nomination in 2012 and try to deprive his boss, President Barack B.O.Obama, of a second term. Jon Who? chirp...chirp...chirp...chirp...chirp... Huntsman, a smooth former Utah governor, wrote to Obama to announce he would resign effective from April 30, after the White House noted he had told several officials he planned to leave in the first part of this year. But White House front man Minister of Information Robert Washington BobGibbs sidestepped questions about Huntsman's political intentions, as anticipation builds for Obama's reelection bid and several prominent Republicans take soundings over their chances. "I have talked to several people in the building, I have not heard anybody say that they know what the future holds for Ambassador Huntsman," Gibbs said. Obama's 2009 pick of Huntsman to serve in the crucial Beijing post was seen as a political masterstroke, potentially taking one possible rival out of the game in the upcoming presidential election. But Huntsman stirred 2012 buzz with a Newsweek interview late last year in which he suggested he had one political run left in him, and after buying a new home in Washington. Huntsman, the son of a chemical billionaire, could inject his own cash into an effort to explore his prospects in the crowded field of presumed Republican contenders for the presidential nomination. He would bring solid foreign policy and economic credentials to the table, after two years steering perhaps the most important, and often troubled, U.S. diplomatic relationship. But many commentators believe his service as a member of Obama's government will prove a huge liability in wooing the conservative voters who dominate the Republican Party nominating process. And some of his more centrist positions on issues like climate change and immigration may also prove problematic in the Republican primary. Other commentators say his Mormon faith could irk evangelical Christian voters who comprise a key part of the Republican party base vote. Obama made a tongue-in-cheek reference to Huntsman's prospects when he was asked about his envoy's political intentions during a White House presser with Chinese President Hu Jintao earlier this month. He said Huntsman had done an "outstanding job" as ambassador to China and shown enormous skill, dedication and talent. "I'm sure he will be very successful in whatever endeavors he chooses in the future, and I'm sure that him having worked so well with me will be a great asset in any Republican primary," Obama added. Huntsman learned Mandarin Chinese when he served on a Mormon mission in Taiwan. He has been seen as a moderate voice in the Republican Party and was a popular governor -- he gained 70 percent of the vote in November 2008 for a second term as Utah's top official. Huntsman served as Bush's deputy U.S. trade representative and negotiated several agreements with China. He and his wife Mary Kaye have seven children, including two daughters adopted from China and India. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #8 All I know is that when the MSM talks of a "Moderate" Republican they mean RINO. No more progressive economic politics please. We're broke. |
| Posted by: DarthVader 2011-02-02 18:53 |
| #7 Huntsman Fever!!! Catch it!!! |
| Posted by: charger 2011-02-02 18:02 |
| #6 Crist imploded on them, so they're scrambling for another RINO to spoil Palin, Huckabee, and Romney. To be honest, I don't know a heck of a lot about Huntsman, but what I do know, isn't impressive. For one, it's Utah - you'd have to be sodomizing schoolchildren in front of the national press to lose a state-level race as a Republican in that state. For another, he's been sitting out the Tea Party period in China as an ambassador for the other party. That doesn't make you popular with base types. Lastly, he's a Party guy from a state where Party guys are seriously out of favor - his fellow ex-governor Mike Leavett was roundly booed at the convention that picked Mike Lee over the incumbent senatorial clockpuncher. I'm really kind of surprised the press isn't pushing Huckabee harder - he's their sort of squish, all oversized, dewy-eyed sympathy and economically as liberal as they come in the Republican package. I guess it's the cultural factor: they can deal with Mormons, but enthusiastic bible-thumping Baptists better be black to get past their guard. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2011-02-02 13:19 |
| #5 A couple big media last week breathlessly reported the president's '12 campaign as unofficially starting. An opponant, if even just a boxing dummy, is necessary and helps frame the debate. Doubly so if they do not have a firm decision on the opponent so the boxing dummy is also a lure. |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2011-02-02 12:14 |
| #4 sounds like Obama's picking his 2012 opponent before the Republicans can. Classic Axelrod trick. The Pubs (being the Stupid Party) fell for this trick in '08 with McCain -- recall that the NYT endorsed McCain in the primaries. Axelrod would love to pull the same trick in '12: set up conditions by which the Stupid Party will choose the candidate Axelrod has hand-picked to be Bambi's opponent, preferably some RINO squish with a hidden, fatal weakness that can be trotted out in mid-August. Why do the Dems hate Palin so much? If she's not very bright, not very important, not very original, and not very serious as a candidate, why the daily two-minute hate? Why do they spend so much time trying to tear her down? Because Axelrod knows that Saracuda can bring Bambi down, that's why. I don't know Huntsman other than what I read in the news, but the very fact that he gets good press from the MFM is enough for me to cross him off my list. |
| Posted by: Steve White 2011-02-02 11:14 |
| #3 "he gained 70 percent of the vote in November 2008 for a second term as Utah's top official." Then became ambassador to China in 2009. He'll be called a quiter. That and the fact that the Chinese visit was a disaster which somehow has to relate back to the Ambassador even if unfairly. Lastly we already have a Mormon trying to get traction in the Republican party who has a lot more name recognition. Huntsman is aiming for the VP slot and I don't think he'll get it. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2011-02-02 09:19 |
| #2 sounds like Obama's picking his 2012 opponent before the Republicans can. Wonder what they found in his vetting file that they'll spring on us right before the election. Huntsman who? is right |
| Posted by: Frank G 2011-02-02 08:40 |
| #1 Jon Meade Huntsman,Jr. - Brief Wiki Bio states he has proficiency in Mandarin Chinese. |
| Posted by: Goodluck 2011-02-02 03:45 |