Huntsman to China

I'm not sure that would take him out of the picture.
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He can always resign the post if it looks good for him. I wouldn't be surprised if those options were discussed and the satisfactory resolution of them (from Huntsman's point of view) is what probably led to his acceptance of the post.

Query: I'll leave alone the assertion that being a co-chair of McCain's campaign confers "real stature." What is the evidence that Huntsman is a "a voice for sanity in the Republican Party"?
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BTW, if Huntsman is indeed a voice for sanity in the GOP, sending him to China will diminish the number of such voices in the U.S. by approximately 25%.

53: Yeah. Maybe he'll pull a Judd Gregg and resign for "principled" reasons, thrilling the GOP base and leaving Obama looking like a Schmuck again.

Again I know bloggers seem to dwell on this. But it doesn't sink in and therefoe needs to be repeated. Bipartisanship is not a goal; it is a method. As such, measuring how much 'bipartisanship' Obama is able to achieve is to put the cart before the horse.
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That doesn't prevent a lot of really moronic stuff to be written on the subject however. Right now the Republican party is splintering into it's rational and irrational components. If Obama can successfully peel off rational actors from the list of potential rivals then thats a good thing. But trying to placate people who are hopelessly obstinant is neither a worthwhile goal or very smart.
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People who suggest otherwise (and I'm not implying that JK did so) are idiots.

Agree this is a brilliant move. Pity that a lot of Republicans will think "good riddance."

It just seems to me that both of them are intelligent (considering the standing Huntsman has in the GOP's "rational" element) that they would have covered these issues.
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If Joe Klein is aware of it*1, and we are aware of it, then it stands to reason that Huntsman is also aware of it.
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*1 Huntsman may have a golden opportunity regardless of the outcome of the current infighting in the GOP. The GOP itself may even disappear, to be supplanted by something else, but he will be in a strong position as a moderate and right-of-center politician to provide some cohesiveness for the currently "homeless" independents*2.
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*2 The current crop of independents are roughly equal in number to the Dems, it appears, and not all will migrate left to join the Dems. They are currently left homeless by the Limbaugh-led purges going on in the GOP

How do you say in Mandarin Chinese, "please don't stop buying our T-bills Chairman Hu Jintao, please don't".

While I'm all for giving "wicked clever" props when they are well deserved, I believe that virtually any attempt by Obama to form a bipartisan administration is going to result in his choosing a reasonable (statured?) politician from the ever-dwindling pool of rational GOP voices.
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(This is another way of saying that sqr1 has the math right. Obama's down to about 3 more statesmen before he has to start looking at wingnuts.)
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PD: Are you implying that an appointment to the Obama Administration is going to be seen as a "kiss of death" within the GOP, since the irrational component will blacklist the appointee? If so, it seems as though the party may actually purge itself out of existence.

kbanginmotown:
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"If so, it seems as though the party may actually purge itself out of existence."
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That would require Obama to pucker up for Rush, Sessions and a few other very choice critters. I can only say that that will likely be a cold day in Hades.

[...] Joe Klein applauds the move: [...]

sqrl: I think Hunstman said that the GOP needs to stop focusing on preventing gay marriage.
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Brilliant. I think the GOP should stop focusing on preventing gay marriage. And I said it before Huntsman. Where's my ambassadorship?

I read this news and all I could think was "Two moves ahead"...
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Brilliant. I think the GOP should stop focusing on preventing gay marriage. And I said it before Huntsman. Where's my ambassadorship?
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Do we have an ambassador to Canuckistan yet?

a real show of respect that the Chinese leadership will appreciate.
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interesting argument here. Hopefully Joe, you're well aware that the hunts went to Taiwan, not the Motherland. And hopefully Joe, you're well aware of the relationship between China and Taiwan.
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Yes it's a wicked move. for the short and mid term. Short term, it makes people tune in to politics again. And we all know that the most cynical stuff happens when nobody's looking. So, that's a win for Obama.

Already, the base is saying good riddance to the RINO Huntsman. I assume Rush Limbaugh and Dick Cheney will be along soon to confirm that he did not fit in the GOP. (Sorry in advance for the linked site.) http://hotair.com/archives/2009/05/16/shock-huntsman-quits-as-utah-gov-to-be-obamas-ambassador-to-china/comment-page-1/#comments

I think he was a longshot at best. The remains of the republican party would have never backed the guy for a Presdiential bid. The very qualities that might make him a good ambassador aren't qualities that that the base find the least bit appealing. I'm afraid that his being a "voice for sanity" in the current makeup of the republican party is about as popular with them as a voice telling us to put a bullet in the head of every member of our family and then burn down the house would be with us.

Joe Klein asserts: "[Huntsman] has real stature". ROTFLMAO! Jon Huntsman and not just "stature" but "real stature" all in the same sentence? Hahahahahahahaha.

What's next, Crist for SCOTUS? I get all the insidery cooing about bipartisan strategy/divide-and-conquer blahblahblah, but am I the only lefty who thinks when there's an appt. to be made, well, ummm, that Obama might want ...
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TO PICK A FARKIN' DEM!!!
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I know, I apologize, this is very shortsighted and partisan of me. After all, if Joe (fellow founding father of the Broderian "bipartisan unity" cult) is happy then it must be all good. I'm a naive rube who thinks the "liberal" and "conservative" positions on international relations, human rights, trade et al might be different.

jcapan
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Right now shipping a Republican out of a Governor ship which seems to be the only place they still win these days and having that Governor actually not be one of the bat sh*t crazy one is a good move for the Democratic party in my opinion. Taking Dems out of elected positions at this point could be very problematic. You never know if their successor will even be a Dem and if so if they will be able to keep the post. And you have to remember that Huntsman takes his cues from Obama not the other way around. Judd Gregg probably thought he could get in and do things his own way and ended up getting his feelings hurt and hauled ass. Please disregard Joe Klien's fetish for all things "bipartisan" but from a purely political position I think this move makes perfect sense. And never forget that Ben Nelson has been a Democrat for a long time so be careful of just asking for a Dem. I am just about positive that Huntsman is more of a Democrat than Nelson is.

The Utah governorship isn't in play either. Utah is reliably red so they'll replace him with a republican. I also think this is a good move. It's just one more example of a moderate republican making a wise career move. The man supports civil unions. There's no place for him to go but down in wingnut utopia.

From the point of view of getting the job done with China, Huntsman is a good choice. He can speak mandarin, which in itself is a big deal in a meeting situation. I talk as someone who has been in meetings with the Chinese when they decided to take a time-out to talk amongst themselves safe in the knowledge that nobody on the other side of the table could understand them.

To jcapon: Ambassador to Taiwan (or is it China) is a fine place to show that Obama is not governing as an ideologue. Picking a Republican is much better than some partisan who donated big bucks to the party or campaign.

But I do agree we want Democrats in the policy positions!

SG, I hear you. I certainly get that an ambassador is going to preach the president's gospel, period, or be replaced. I also, per my closing tongue-in-cheek reference above, get that there ain't a hill of beans of diff between far too many dems and repugs (and Nelson is just the steaming outer layer of that Blue Dog-sh!t). But I'm an idealist not a strategy pragmatist. To wit:
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http://www.progressive.org/zinn0509.html
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And perhaps it's the context of the nomination--for progressives this has been a bad week, a very bad week:
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http://www.mcclatchydc.com/309/story/68306.html
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But that's why god gave me the ability to buy beer, make kick-a$s enchiladas, and appreciate the delights of sumo.

It's an interesting appointment. He is obviously competent and intelligent (not to be taken lightly in repug circles), and yet religious and certainly fertile, good balls. It will be fun to see this develop. I am disappointed in some of Obama's decisions, but I will be the last to say that he doesn't keep it interesting and lively.

Formerly, you've really outdone us all:
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"certainly fertile, good balls"
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According to wiki, "Huntsman also joined REO Speedwagon on the piano for two songs during their concert at the Utah State Fair on September 16, 2005."
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That's surely, along with his balls, to his credit.

According to wiki, "Huntsman also joined REO Speedwagon on the piano for two songs during their concert at the Utah State Fair on September 16, 2005."
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That's surely, along with his balls, to his credit.
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The more I learn about Huntsman the more I wonder if he has an R next to his name simply because he wanted a political future in Utah.
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(BTW if you type in an R with parentheses in WordPress you get this: (R). No real point, I just thought that was funny.)