<font size="5"><center>
Utah's GOP Governor Chosen as China Envoy</font size><font size="4">
Huntsman Was Potential 2012 Presidential Challenger</font size></center>
Jon Huntsman, the president's pick as ambassador to
China, is "a logical thinker, not an ideological thinker,"
said an Asia expert. "That's like Obama." (By Manuel
Balce Ceneta -- Associated Press)
By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 17, 2009
President Obama reached across the aisle yesterday to tap a leading Republican governor as his ambassador to China, indicating his continuing desire for bipartisanship in his administration while<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"> signaling to Beijing his intent to build "a new understanding" with the United States' largest economic competitor.</span>
In announcing the nomination of Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Obama noted that he is choosing an envoy with years of experience in the region and who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
"With Jon Huntsman representing the United States in China, I'm confident that we will launch a new era of partnership between our two nations that will advance our shared dreams of opportunity and security in America, in Asia, and around the world," Obama said in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room.
Flanked by his wife and seven children, Huntsman, 49, accepted Obama's "call to service," admitting that as a national co-chair of Sen. John McCain's Republican presidential campaign last year, he never expected "to be called into action by the person who beat us."
Huntsman has been viewed as a rising star in the Republican Party, thanks to his record of economic recovery and growth in Utah and to his moderate political views. Blocked from running for a third term as governor in 2012, he had already begun making early steps toward a possible presidential bid, one that many political observers thought had the potential to be the strongest Republican challenge to Obama.
Huntsman recently spent a weekend traveling in Michigan -- a critical state in the GOP primary process -- and had enlisted the help of John Weaver, a former McCain aide, who presented Huntsman with a basic blueprint and strategy to secure the nomination.
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">Several of Obama's top advisers in the White House regarded him as a formidable challenger. David Plouffe, who managed Obama's presidential campaign, told U.S. News & World Report this month that Huntsman was "the one person in that party who might be a potential presidential candidate."
Huntsman was planning to set up a political action committee next month, top political advisers said yesterday, and had begun the process of recruiting operatives and volunteers in early-voting states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina. With yesterday's announcement, all of that political activity ends, along with his prospects for a presidential bid before 2016, his advisers said. </span>
"It's a rare thing in Washington that someone puts their country's interest before their own personal interests," Weaver said in an interview. "Having said that, things usually work out well for the person who does do that. He's a young guy. And he's a very good prescription for what ails our party."
The posting would add significant foreign policy experience to Huntsman's political résumé -- a valuable asset, should he return to thoughts of a presidential campaign in years to come.
The governor also has deep ties to Asia: He lived in Taiwan as a Mormon missionary, mastering Mandarin while there. He and his wife, Mary Kaye, adopted a daughter from China, and he briefly served as U.S. ambassador to Singapore in the early 1990s.
White House aides and people close to the governor said tapping Huntsman for the China post was first proposed to the president by Jeff Bader, the top Asia expert on the National Security Council.
Bader has been a close friend of Huntsman's from the time both served under then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick in 2001 and 2002. (Huntsman was then the deputy trade ambassador under President George W. Bush, before running for office in Utah in 2004.)
Bader described Huntsman to Obama as a "problem-solver, not a dogmatist," aides said.
Bader reached out to his friend about a month ago, proposing the idea. Those conversations were followed by several calls from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Obama called Huntsman on May 5 to offer the job, and he accepted. The two then met in the Oval Office, along with Huntsman's wife, last Saturday while the Huntsmans were in town for the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
Huntsman had already emerged as one of the chief Republican opponents of the GOP's congressional leadership, calling it "inconsequential." He did not join the National Council for a New America, a group recently launched by GOP heavyweights such as former Florida governor Jeb Bush, although he called that organization a step in the right direction.
Huntsman was apparently not Obama's first choice. Chris Nelson, who writes an influential newsletter on Asia policy, said the Obama administration had earlier reached out to former senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and former Clinton commerce secretary William M. Daley about the job.
But Huntsman gives Obama another high-profile Republican in his administration, helping the president make good on a promise to embrace bipartisanship. Obama's second choice for commerce secretary, GOP Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), first accepted the nomination, then withdrew days later after having second thoughts. He has since turned into one of Obama's most vocal critics.
"I knew that because Jon is not only a Republican, but a Republican who co-chaired my opponent's campaign for the presidency, this wouldn't be the easiest decision to explain to some members of his party," Obama said.
As governor, Huntsman has pushed for an overhaul of the state's health-care system, and he has lobbied for his party to do more on the environment. He has also promoted the power of bipartisanship in Utah, a state where Republicans dominate.
"Most Americans are fed up with the idea that partisanship has stood in the way of progress," Huntsman said in an interview late last year.
This year Huntsman came out in support of civil unions for same-sex couples, a position with which a majority of his constituents disagreed. He had also staked out moderate ground on environmental issues and had called for the Republican Party to take a less combative stance in opposition to Obama.
"Right now we are devoid of ideas," Huntsman said. "We don't have the big thing, we don't have the organizing principle."
As ambassador, Huntsman will quickly confront a series of thorny issues in U.S.-China relations. With the world economy ailing, the two countries are increasingly at odds over trade, experts said. The United States continues to push issues of human rights in China. And the White House is eager for Chinese cooperation on restraining North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
"Huntsman will be very well placed, being a political player, to listen and talk to them and pass messages back and forth -- probably better than most ambassadors," Nelson said yesterday.
Trade, always a delicate issue in U.S.-China relations, may be one of the toughest issues Huntsman faces, Asia experts said. The United States is also concerned with the expansion of China's military.
Michael J. Green, who was senior director for Asia in Bush's National Security Council, called Huntsman a "very strong choice" that suggests Obama is ready to be tough with the Chinese.
"Huntsman is no panda-hugger," Green said. "He knows the country well, but he will be firm. And it will also help to continue some bipartisan spirit for a relationship that is important but not easy."
It is unclear how far apart Obama and Huntsman are philosophically, but Nelson said he expects there to be little disagreement between the two about the direction of U.S. policy toward China.
"He was a sensible, centrist guy, not a hard-line conservative," Nelson said of Huntsman during his tenure in the U.S. Trade Representative's Office. "A logical thinker, not an ideological thinker. That's like Obama. Very Socratic."
Staff writers Perry Bacon Jr. and Chris Cillizza contributed to this report.
Utah's GOP Governor Chosen as China Envoy</font size><font size="4">
Huntsman Was Potential 2012 Presidential Challenger</font size></center>
Jon Huntsman, the president's pick as ambassador to
China, is "a logical thinker, not an ideological thinker,"
said an Asia expert. "That's like Obama." (By Manuel
Balce Ceneta -- Associated Press)
By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, May 17, 2009
President Obama reached across the aisle yesterday to tap a leading Republican governor as his ambassador to China, indicating his continuing desire for bipartisanship in his administration while<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00"> signaling to Beijing his intent to build "a new understanding" with the United States' largest economic competitor.</span>
In announcing the nomination of Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., Obama noted that he is choosing an envoy with years of experience in the region and who is fluent in Mandarin Chinese.
"With Jon Huntsman representing the United States in China, I'm confident that we will launch a new era of partnership between our two nations that will advance our shared dreams of opportunity and security in America, in Asia, and around the world," Obama said in the White House Diplomatic Reception Room.
Flanked by his wife and seven children, Huntsman, 49, accepted Obama's "call to service," admitting that as a national co-chair of Sen. John McCain's Republican presidential campaign last year, he never expected "to be called into action by the person who beat us."
Huntsman has been viewed as a rising star in the Republican Party, thanks to his record of economic recovery and growth in Utah and to his moderate political views. Blocked from running for a third term as governor in 2012, he had already begun making early steps toward a possible presidential bid, one that many political observers thought had the potential to be the strongest Republican challenge to Obama.
Huntsman recently spent a weekend traveling in Michigan -- a critical state in the GOP primary process -- and had enlisted the help of John Weaver, a former McCain aide, who presented Huntsman with a basic blueprint and strategy to secure the nomination.
<SPAN style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #ffff00">Several of Obama's top advisers in the White House regarded him as a formidable challenger. David Plouffe, who managed Obama's presidential campaign, told U.S. News & World Report this month that Huntsman was "the one person in that party who might be a potential presidential candidate."
Huntsman was planning to set up a political action committee next month, top political advisers said yesterday, and had begun the process of recruiting operatives and volunteers in early-voting states such as New Hampshire and South Carolina. With yesterday's announcement, all of that political activity ends, along with his prospects for a presidential bid before 2016, his advisers said. </span>
"It's a rare thing in Washington that someone puts their country's interest before their own personal interests," Weaver said in an interview. "Having said that, things usually work out well for the person who does do that. He's a young guy. And he's a very good prescription for what ails our party."
The posting would add significant foreign policy experience to Huntsman's political résumé -- a valuable asset, should he return to thoughts of a presidential campaign in years to come.
The governor also has deep ties to Asia: He lived in Taiwan as a Mormon missionary, mastering Mandarin while there. He and his wife, Mary Kaye, adopted a daughter from China, and he briefly served as U.S. ambassador to Singapore in the early 1990s.
White House aides and people close to the governor said tapping Huntsman for the China post was first proposed to the president by Jeff Bader, the top Asia expert on the National Security Council.
Bader has been a close friend of Huntsman's from the time both served under then-U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick in 2001 and 2002. (Huntsman was then the deputy trade ambassador under President George W. Bush, before running for office in Utah in 2004.)
Bader described Huntsman to Obama as a "problem-solver, not a dogmatist," aides said.
Bader reached out to his friend about a month ago, proposing the idea. Those conversations were followed by several calls from White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
Obama called Huntsman on May 5 to offer the job, and he accepted. The two then met in the Oval Office, along with Huntsman's wife, last Saturday while the Huntsmans were in town for the White House Correspondents' Association dinner.
Huntsman had already emerged as one of the chief Republican opponents of the GOP's congressional leadership, calling it "inconsequential." He did not join the National Council for a New America, a group recently launched by GOP heavyweights such as former Florida governor Jeb Bush, although he called that organization a step in the right direction.
Huntsman was apparently not Obama's first choice. Chris Nelson, who writes an influential newsletter on Asia policy, said the Obama administration had earlier reached out to former senator Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) and former Clinton commerce secretary William M. Daley about the job.
But Huntsman gives Obama another high-profile Republican in his administration, helping the president make good on a promise to embrace bipartisanship. Obama's second choice for commerce secretary, GOP Sen. Judd Gregg (N.H.), first accepted the nomination, then withdrew days later after having second thoughts. He has since turned into one of Obama's most vocal critics.
"I knew that because Jon is not only a Republican, but a Republican who co-chaired my opponent's campaign for the presidency, this wouldn't be the easiest decision to explain to some members of his party," Obama said.
As governor, Huntsman has pushed for an overhaul of the state's health-care system, and he has lobbied for his party to do more on the environment. He has also promoted the power of bipartisanship in Utah, a state where Republicans dominate.
"Most Americans are fed up with the idea that partisanship has stood in the way of progress," Huntsman said in an interview late last year.
This year Huntsman came out in support of civil unions for same-sex couples, a position with which a majority of his constituents disagreed. He had also staked out moderate ground on environmental issues and had called for the Republican Party to take a less combative stance in opposition to Obama.
"Right now we are devoid of ideas," Huntsman said. "We don't have the big thing, we don't have the organizing principle."
As ambassador, Huntsman will quickly confront a series of thorny issues in U.S.-China relations. With the world economy ailing, the two countries are increasingly at odds over trade, experts said. The United States continues to push issues of human rights in China. And the White House is eager for Chinese cooperation on restraining North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
"Huntsman will be very well placed, being a political player, to listen and talk to them and pass messages back and forth -- probably better than most ambassadors," Nelson said yesterday.
Trade, always a delicate issue in U.S.-China relations, may be one of the toughest issues Huntsman faces, Asia experts said. The United States is also concerned with the expansion of China's military.
Michael J. Green, who was senior director for Asia in Bush's National Security Council, called Huntsman a "very strong choice" that suggests Obama is ready to be tough with the Chinese.
"Huntsman is no panda-hugger," Green said. "He knows the country well, but he will be firm. And it will also help to continue some bipartisan spirit for a relationship that is important but not easy."
It is unclear how far apart Obama and Huntsman are philosophically, but Nelson said he expects there to be little disagreement between the two about the direction of U.S. policy toward China.
"He was a sensible, centrist guy, not a hard-line conservative," Nelson said of Huntsman during his tenure in the U.S. Trade Representative's Office. "A logical thinker, not an ideological thinker. That's like Obama. Very Socratic."
Staff writers Perry Bacon Jr. and Chris Cillizza contributed to this report.
