Obama Assimilates Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, Appoints Him Ambassador To China

Huntsman was the co-chair of John McCain’s campaign and his name was being circled as a contender in 2012 among so-called “moderate” Republicans who share the view of Democrats that the GOP is going too far right. Leading some to believe that Obama brought Huntsman in to eliminate him as a rival. Which I kind of doubt.
Another milquetoast conservative stands about as much chance of beating Obama in 2012 as McCain did last year. But Huntsman, prominent moderate that he was, was a monkey wrench in the left’s push to brand the GOP as an extremist movement led by Rush Limbaugh. So bringing him into the fold was good politics regardless.
And Huntsman was all too happy to go along.

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.

Meh. No big loss. Liberal dogma has it that the GOP has moved too far right. The reality is that with people like McCain and Huntsman leading the charge, the party has moved too far left.
Generally speaking.