Can Jon Huntsman Save the GOP?

While unlikely that Jon Huntsman would challenge Obama in 2012, the GOP can still learn from his leadership.

While on a promotional tour for his new book, Newsweek columnist Jonathan Alter recently made some interesting comments on the 2012 presidential race. “Whether Obama wants to admit it or not,” Alter claimed, “when he surveyed the Republican party for who had talent…and could potentially pose the most threat for him in 2012, believe me, Obama would prefer to run against Romney or Huckabee or Palin than against Jon Huntsman.”

Who?

Jon Huntsman is the former governor of Utah and current U.S. ambassador to China. In addition to serving both Bush administrations – as ambassador to Singapore for 41 and a deputy U.S. trade representative for 43 – he is a member of what Fortune termed “an iconic family dynasty that’s one part Marriott (another business clan with Utah roots) and one part Kennedy (only Republican).” Early 2009 saw Huntsman clearly preparing for a possible presidential campaign as he developed contacts in early primary states, began the process of establishing a national PAC, and consulted with leading GOP strategists Frank Lutz and John Weaver. U.S. News and World Report noted that Huntsman was the only potential Republican presidential candidate that made Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, “a wee bit queasy.”

Little more than a week after Plouffe’s pronouncement, however, Obama tapped Huntsman for the ambassadorship to China, thus effectively taking the wind out of the sails of a potential 2012 challenge. This was the move Alter alluded to, and at the time it was hailed as a shrewd political calculation. “Brilliant,” GOP strategist Mark McKinnon remarked on the appointment, “Keep your friends close and your enemies in China.”

Of course, the decision was surely not solely political, as Huntsman is in many ways ideal for the post. He speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese, a byproduct of having served in Taiwan as a Mormon missionary during college. As a trade official, he helped negotiate the opening of markets in Africa and Asia, including China’s. Huntsman is also something of a seasoned diplomat. He was 32 when tapped to be ambassador to Singapore by President H.W. Bush, making him the youngest head of an American diplomatic mission in more than a century. And he has a personal connection to China – one of his seven children was adopted from Yangzhou, Jiangsu province. He has received rave reviews for his work there thus far.

Huntsman’s record as Utah governor is similarly impressive, with the Pew Center rating his state the best governed in the nation in 2008. He left office with an 86 percent approval rating, a fact reflected in a glowing Deseret News editorial commenting on his legacy upon his departure:

When he was elected, nobody knew what to expect. The chattering classes feared he'd be an empty suit — that his privileged upbringing would insulate him from everyday Utahns and his lack of experience would isolate him from power brokers…[But he] has filled his resume with some impressive accomplishments. He has presided over record tax surpluses and record tax cuts. He has been a progressive on climate issues but a conservative in business circles. He has championed education and the four-day work week. But most of all, he has shown an ability to adjust to circumstances. The old saying is old because it's true: Politics is the art of the possible. And as governor, Huntsman always dwelt in possibilities. The fact he has achieved so much success speaks well of his managerial skills. In short, send that old empty suit to the cleaners. The man headed to China has both looked and acted the part of a leader. What's more, his future looks tailor-made for national politics.

A presidential run, however, would not be without considerable obstacles. As a Mormon, Huntsman would be competing with Mitt Romney over some of the same supporters and financial backers and have to overcome the same religious prejudices that bedeviled the former governor of Massachusetts in 2008.  Huntsman is also not the most popular figure with the GOP establishment – he excoriated the party’s congressional leadership in 2009, making him, dare I say it, a little bit of a maverick.

To be sure, barring a dramatic break with the Obama administration over foreign policy, it is now highly unlikely that Huntsman will take on the president in 2012. But Republicans can still benefit from emulating his intellectual honesty and recognition that good policy requires nuance, as he pointed out to Politico: “We will be irrelevant as a party until we become the party of solutions and until we become the party of preeminence. It’s easy to fall back on gratuitous rhetoric and that’s kind of what this town is all about.” In a party seemingly bereft of good leadership, with the head of the RNC being derided as “gaffe-master GOP honcho” and the House Minority Leader characterized as lazy, it is comforting to know there are still good leaders out there – even if they are currently in China.