Jon Huntsman new Secretary of State??

[center rising]

It may not be so far fetched!!

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865566373/Will-Huntsman-re-join-Obama-administration-as-Secretary-of-State.html

[chemp]

1. interesting

But John Kerry should be given chance of first refusal.

[earthside]

6. Yup. Kerry first.

But I have to say that on first blush, appointing Huntsman could be a very bold move.

It would further marginalize the extremist Repuglicans and Teabaggers ... and be a interesting overture to Mormons. That kind of move is what will make the Democrats a dominate political party for a generation.

[MynameisBlarney]

10. That, I like!

Mighty sharp thinkage there!

[SoCalDem]

12. No to Kerry.. Scott Brown comes right back to the Senate

and kerry's painfully plodding, pedantic mannerisms & speech would bore the rest of the world to death..

[PatSeg]

16. Leaving his senate seat in Massachusetts

is scary to me right now. Would we see another Scott Brown? We need every vote we can get in the senate.

[bluestate10]

32. Are you serious? I live in Massachusetts. I don't want an expensive election, the third in 2 years,

that Scott Brown could well win because he is better positioned than any democrat but our Governor, may be. Fuck that. People wanting Kerry as SOS need to use their fucking heads, we need as big a Senate majority as possible with the fights that are coming up the we have to win.

[MynameisBlarney]

2. I'd say he'd be next most qualified

after Clinton.

[quinnox]

3. Sounds good to me!

[GitRDun]

4. I am thinking no...

Tell me what you all think but I think it would be bad strategy to give one of the few relatively sane Republicans a post that would boost their viability in 2016....especially if Hillary is the party's choice.

I could be wrong, just my opinion.

[PatSeg]

18. You're assuming

that the Republican party will get a clue and nominate a sane, viable candidate in four years. I suppose it is possible, but I think it will take longer than four years to whip that dysfunctional party into shape.

Meanwhile, republicans won't trust anyone who works with/for this administration. They are too small minded for that. We saw how they treated Huntsman during the primaries.

[GitRDun]

31. Yes you are right

I am assuming that over four years, some sanity is restored over there...I figured that would be a conservative position to take in making an appointment now. You may be right and in four years they've learned nothing. In that case it wouldn't matter.

[PatSeg]

34. I feel badly for people like Huntsman

and Colin Powell. They are basically conservative, but the republican party isn't conservative anymore, they're reactionary. I have to wonder if Jon Huntsman really voted for Mitt Romney. Old school republicans just don't fit in anywhere these days. I appreciate a sane, intelligent conservative, but they are an endangered species these days.

[hifiguy]

36. I am as partisan and lefty a Democrat as there is and

I agree. Jon Huntsman was the one and only sane and responsible adult in a room filled with bug-eaters, duck-fuckers, loony theocrats and used-car salesmen. He would have been a very formidable challenger to President Obama. And the Repukes treated him like a stray dog that crapped in the living room. Certainly I do not agree with him on many, many things and would not have voted for him, but he was something of a throwback to the days when there were moderate, reality-based people in the Republican Party with whom one could reasonably disagree in a civil fashion.

I am getting old. I remember Republicans like Chuck Percy, Nelson Rockefeller, Ed Brooke, Howard Baker, Gerry Ford and in my state of Minnesota, Arne Carlson and David Durenberger.

Until the Repukes abandon paleolithic theology, racism, xenophobia and rabid sexism they don't stand a chance in a national race.

[PatSeg]

41. I guess the one candidate

that really made the Obama camp nervous was Jon Huntsman.

I remember some of those Republicans as well, especially Chuck Percy because we lived in Illinois. There was a time when I could have healthy, invigorating debates with republicans. I usually didn't agree with them, but they made intelligent, informed points.

If someone like Jon Huntsman had won, I would have been very disappointed, but I wouldn't have been scared to death. I think he would have been a moderate and sane president.

Love your descriptions of the Republican candidates!!! Bug-eaters and duck-fuckers............

[Brother Buzz]

5. He's eminently qualified but....

the appointment could be a stepping stone to the White House. I'm conflicted on this.

[sadbear]

9. You think Huntsman would do what it takes to get the republican nomination?

If I were a betting man, I'd say the chances of him switching parties is greater than the chances of him getting the republican nomination. He's just too sane and reasonable for that base. And as we have seen with Christie, working with President Obama is a black mark for those people.

[Brother Buzz]

17. I might be good with him if he jumped parties before he was appointed

That would burn the bridge to my satisfaction.

[Barack_America]

26. If he's SOS he can't run in 2016.

He'd have to wait another 8 years until our next Dem President is gone.

[Brother Buzz]

29. I thought that was just for Secretary of Defense

I'm not a Constitutional lawyer, nor do I play one on TV.

[Barack_America]

35. You can't be both in Iowa and all over the globe.

It's a practical consideration. SOS is a job that doesn't leave time for much else.

[calico1]

7. No.

No more appointing Republicans to the administration. Screw that.

[tarheelsunc]

8. I'd support it

This would instantly make him a credible figure among Americans and could lead to him being seen as a Republican leader of sorts. It could have the effect of moving the Republicans towards the center, and moving American politics overall more to the left.

[flamingdem]

11. NEVER. It must be someone who thinks like Obama

Huntsman is a repuke

[KharmaTrain]

23. There Aren't That Many Differences In Foreign Policy...

...Huntsman served as President Obama's Ambassador to China and already has served in this administration. Not such a far-fetched idea at all and would keep Huntsman from organizing for 2016 (not that he stands any better chance then than he does now with such an unhinged party). I'm not sure I'm on board with him being SOS but bringing him back in some capacity might not be a bad idea...the fact he served in the Obama administration was a big liability when he tried running last year.

[flamingdem]

30. Doubt they could risk including a Republican in such a sensitive post

I thought it would be Kerry, top of the tops for that role

[hifiguy]

38. He is someone who I believe should be in the Administration

somewhere. Not necessarily as SOS, but something cabinet level. One of the few sane Repubs deserves some small reward for his sanity.

[scheming daemons]

13. Not actually a horrible idea

[CurtEastPoint]

14. I'm leery of Republicans, no matter how moderate.

[moondust]

15. Hogwash.

[emulatorloo]

19. Hell to the no. Fuck Republican Presidential Candidate Huntsman

He made his bed, now he must lie in it.

[DearHeart]

20. No Thank You!

[liberal_at_heart]

21. he's one of the few sane republicans and he's qualified

[mzmolly]

22. No. Why help him in a future Presidential

run?

[TheKentuckian]

24. Why beat the TeaPubliKlans if we want to appoint them to top positions

and implement their policies.

Nice seeming guy but he can work on reforming his party on his own, our job is their annihilation not to rehab them.

[Renew Deal]

28. This guys isn't exactly a teabagger.

I can understand not supporting him, but he's not hard right.

[TheKentuckian]

48. I had no love not patience for TeaPubliKlans before the Tea crap either.

George W. Bush and Ronald Reagan weren't Teabaggers either and I don't define "moderation" as funneling wealth to the top, starving education, throwing our seniors into the street, slave wages, strip-mining the country for the profits of a few, telling sick children to eat shit and die, setting up military adventures to turn a buck, taking over the commons to get over, and shitting on those in poverty.

"Not hard right" = not an openly bigoted theocrat that yells crazy racist shit or talks up the godly virtues of rape.

[Barack_America]

25. Absolutely! He's qualified and it would destroy a 2016 run.

[BlueMan Votes]

45. how would it destroy a 2016 run...?

imo- it would make him a stronger candidate.

[Renew Deal]

27. Huntsman is coming back to the administration?

Can he keep his ego in check this time? Doubt it.

[OldDem2012]

33. No thanks. nt.

[TwilightGardener]

37. Blech. Make him go away.

[Bake]

39. Ask yourself: would a Pres. Romney have appointed a Democrat to SOS?

Hell no. Which is exactly what I say to this suggestion. Hell no.

Bake

[WI_DEM]

40. I'd prefer not appointing somebody from the Senate who is a Dem

such as Kerry. We need to keep as many of our Senators as possible. We can't depend that in a special election that a Dem will automatically be elected.

[MyNameGoesHere]

42. WHAT? Are we appeasing again?

No more republicans. We don't have to lick boots anymore.

[madinmaryland]

43. Screw Huntsman. At least Colin Powell endorsed President Obama.

Just because he didn't say stupid crap like the rest of the repubs, he still has most of the repub beliefs.

Screw him.

[woolldog]

46. +1

[BlueMan Votes]

44. why should we set him up for a potus run in 2016...?

bad idea.

[Shankapotomus]

47. Put a Republican in as SOS

So we can blame the next terrorist attack on a consulate on them. They want to play that way? f 'em.