President Obama may have thought he had sidelined a possible rival when he nominated Jon Huntsman, a former Republican governor from Utah, to be his ambassador to China.
But if a new report is correct, the bipartisan move may not have squelched the possibility that Mr. Huntsman might challenge the president in 2012.
In an interview with Newsweek, Mr. Huntsman declined to comment directly on the possibility that he might mount a presidential campaign, and he left hints that he may be interested in challenging the man who sent him to Bejiing.
“You know, I’m really focused on what we’re doing in our current position,” he tells the magazine. “But we won’t do this forever, and I think we may have one final run left in our bones.”
The magazine quotes Mr. Huntsman as saying that “I’m not announcing anything at all.” But it also quotes supporters of his – mostly anonymously – as saying that they are ready to move at a moment’s notice if he decides to run.
Mr. Obama already has a long list of potential Republican challengers, though none have actually announced they are planning to run. Mr. Huntsman, a one-time rising star in the Republican party, could quickly be at the top of that list were he to make the decision to jump in.
But his path to the nomination is by no means certain. He would have to contend with Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts, who – like Mr. Huntsman – is Mormon, and would likely try to tap into a similar network of supporters and donors.
And the kind of argument that Mr. Huntsman would likely make to Republican voters is not dissimilar to the argument that would come from other Republican governors like Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota or Mike Huckabee of Arkansas or Mitch Daniels of Indiana: that he has the management experience necessary for the job.
Finally, Mr. Huntsman would have some work to do in explaining to conservative Republicans his decision to join an administration that many of them routinely bash.