What if the presidential bid hint dropped by Obama ambassador to China Jon Huntsman over the holidays was for real? Would that spell doom for Gov. Romney? Over the past week, friends up in the snowy mountains of New Hampshire report they have received serious inquiries from emissaries of the ambassador.
See what a year does to ones thinking. Below are two Huntsman interviews with Newsweek, the first from November from 2009, and the last from last week.
That will put the the powers that be in Utah (as well as the vaulted Romney Money Machine ) in a bind.
What do you all think?
“Does Huntsman plan to move on to the White House someday, like that other U.S. head of mission to China, George H.W. Bush? For now, the ambassador refuses to talk about 2016. A Chinese journalist in Guangzhou asked him point-blank last month: “Who would get the credit if you do a good job as ambassador and go on to run for president in 2016? You or the man who selected you, President Barack Obama?” Huntsman replied with a toothy smile—”Thank you for that last treacherous question, which I won’t answer because I don’t do politics here.” (emphasis mine)
“Now, it appears, the ambassador is ready to make some noise of his own. Sitting in the echo-y living room of his new Washington home, Huntsman, a tall, lean man with silver hair and impeccable posture, pauses only briefly when faced with the question of presidential aspirations. “You know, I’m really focused on what we’re doing in our current position,” he says. “But we won’t do this forever, and I think we may have one final run left in our bones.” Asked whether he is prepared to rule out a run in 2012 (since it would require him to campaign against his current boss), he declines to comment”. (emphasis mine)
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