Friday, February 5, 2010

2012 Prediction: Jon Huntsman

A few weeks ago, I told my collaborator that there was no chance of the Republican 2012 Presidential Ticket consisting of Dick Cheney and Sarah Palin, and he looked at me with the expression of a four-year-old who has just been informed about the truth about Santa Claus.

I’m making a prediction for 2012. This guy might not be who the Republicans pick, but he ought to be. How many people have heard of John Hunstman. Show of hands? Last year, Governor Huntsman resigned his post in Utah to win President Obama’s nod as ambassador to the People’s Republic of China. Governor Huntsman had previously served as our ambassador to Singapore, a post for which he was quite qualified, partially because he speaks fluent Mandarin as the result of a two-year stint on Taiwan as a Mormon missionary.

Governor Huntsman’s father is one of the fifty richest men in the United States, having made part of his fortune with a cancer research facility. His son has held a number of posts in the family corporation and served as Deputy Secretary of Commerce during the Reagan Administration. So take a look at his qualifications: success in business-check. Cabinet experience—check. Foreign policy experience- check. Held elective office with administrative duties—check. Military experience—no. (Nobody’s perfect.)

An interesting note about his family: Governor Huntsman has one wife, and they have seven children, two of whom were adopted. (One from India and one from China.)

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