Both Politico and Jake Tapper report that the White House expects John Huntsman, the U.S. Ambassador to China and former governor of Utah, to resign early this year to explore a potential 2012 bid for president. Politico's Jon Martin and Alexander Burns:
Over the holidays, the ex-governor met with Sen. John McCain, whose 2008 presidential run Huntsman backed early on. In a discussion with the senator, who is the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, about a variety of issues, Huntsman made plain that he was eyeing a White House campaign in the near term, according to a source close to the senator.
A Republican briefed on plans for the political action committee said Huntsman’s final decision on whether to run is expected in June or July.
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The handsome heir to a massive fortune in chemicals manufacturing, he would likely be able to put his own money into the race. And by virtue of his current post as well as past foreign policy and trade posts in GOP administrations, the Mandarin-speaking Huntsman is the only campaign-tested Republican considering a run for president who has serious foreign policy credentials.
Yet Huntsman also has a history of taking moderate positions on the environment, immigration and gay rights. He’s publicly dismissed the importance of Republicans on Capitol Hill. And the Mormon faith he shares with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney could hamper Huntsman with religious conservatives, much as it did Romney in 2008.
Although Huntsman has developed an image as a moderate Republican, he actually seems to be a great bundle of contradictions.
The most obvious example is that while his his decision to serve in the Obama administration suggested a willingness to set aside partisan politics, he's obviously spent a good chunk of his time in office considering a political challenge against the very president he's serving.
But it's not just contradictions in tone, it's also substance. For example, in early 2009, Huntsman said Republicans needed to embrace gay rights and endorsed civil unions, but in 2004 he supported a state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, a ban which included the following provision: "No other domestic union, however denominated, may be recognized as a marriage or given the same or substantially equivalent legal effect."
Similarly, in 2009, he said Republicans needed to take a moderate stand on immigration and praised Ronald Reagan for granting amnesty, yet a year earlier, he'd signed into law a hard-line anti-immigration measure similar to Arizona's SB1070. Salt Lake Tribune, via Nexis:
Governor signs bill cracking down on illegal immigration
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. signed a comprehensive anti-illegal immigration bill into law on Thursday.
The new law will allow local law enforcement agencies to enforce immigration laws and forces some employers to verify the U.S. documentation status of their workers. It goes into effect July 2009.
"It's a good step forward on addressing immigration," said Lisa Roskelley, a spokeswoman for Huntsman.
So while Huntsman has had some success in crafting an image of moderation, his record doesn't always seem to match his rhetoric.
An interesting side note: Huntsman's father, who supported Mitt Romney in 2008, is a frequent guest on Beck's radio and television shows, and Beck credits the elder Huntsman with being a close friend who changed his life. In Beck's words to Jon Huntsman, Sr.: "You are truly one of the most remarkable men I think on planet Earth." If the younger Huntsman does run, it will interesting to see whether and how Beck delivers help.