Let’s see, you gave up a governorship that was beginning to gain you national attention to become an ambassador to China. Mmmmkay.
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, 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.
The only way this makes much sense is it he plans to run in 2016, then this post will give him foreign policy cred few could match. Still, he wouldn’t have the platform of a governorship or Congressional seat to run from. As far as Obama is concerned, this is a brilliant move to get Huntsman off the national stage and stick him somewhere where he can be barely seen and rarely heard. I hope Huntsman realizes that’s the reason why he was chosen.
