Arlen Specter's defection-under-duress to the Democratic party demonstrated the Republican base's intolerance of politicians who aren't doctrinaire far right wingers. It's gotten so bad that one of the most impressive potential presidential candidates who might have run against Barack Obama in 2012, a Republican from Utah, has not only given up his presidential aspirations, he's joining the Obama administration!
[Utah Republican] Governor Jon M. Huntsman Jr. will resign and accept an appointment as ambassador to China, ABC 4 has confirmed.
A press conference has been called for Saturday morning at the White House to annouce the appointment.
Huntsman has ticked off conservatives by being one of those rare Republicans who's told the Republican base they can't have everything they want and still be electorally viable, and dismissed the Republicans' Congressional leadership as inconsequential.
Furthermore, this isn't simply a do-over attempt at a Judd Gregg-like political play. Gregg arguably was unqualified to be head of Commerce on merit, and he had even tried to eliminate the department. It was because he approached the administration, and because he would have been a token Republican and thus an example of supposed bipartisanship, that he was ever considered for the post. Huntsman, on the other hand, did his Mormon mission on Taiwan, is fluent in Mandarin, and served as ambassador to Singapore to the first president Bush and as deputy US trade representative for Dubya. He appears to have the skills and experience to be a good ambassador.
Taking a position with the Obama administration is conservative apostasy; this means any aspirations Huntsman had for being a Republican president are gone forever.
Can anyone think of a possibly viable presidential candidate not only giving up a run by taking an ambassadorship, but in fact taking the ambassadorship to serve a president of the opposing party?
[Mol has more in this diary]