The trial balloons are going up …

It appears that the name of Jon Huntsman is being widely circulated by unknown parties, perhaps the White House, perhaps the media, or perhaps Huntsman himself, as a replacement for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

On December 8, 2011, I opined …

In my opinion, Huntsman is every bit the “affirmative action” telegenic well-spoken empty suit that is Obama. Instead of being promoted on the basis of race, he secured political jobs -- being promoted by his billionaire daddy’s connections and donations.

On December 12, 2011, I found his debate performance against Newt Gingrich to be better than expected …

• Afghanistan – Our future is not nation-building, not counter-insurgency, but ongoing counter-terrorism. We need to remove the troops but leave behind an ability to do tactical intelligence gathering, use special forces and continue training the Afghan army. This is a tribal country. Karzai is not respected as a leader. It is time to move on.
• Pakistan – We have a transactional relationship; they have a thriving anti-American view; 100 nuclear weapons; and we need greater access to what they are thinking. Aid should be tied to outcomes. Should support programs that eventually take the power away from the ISI and the Military. We must be careful about identifying our core national interests. Pakistan may be the next candidate for a failed state like North Korea.
• Need to fix our core; foreign policy by economics, deal with continuing terror threats in the 21st century.
• Remind everyone what it means to be a friend and ally of America.
• India -- Expand relationship with India.
• China -- Will have to deal with the growing problems in the region. China: about to embark on massive leadership change – rise of the 5th generation with a different world view. Chinese economy is down, inflation and unemployment up. Greatest fear is to have 100 million roaming Chinese looking for work and impacting cities. We are short-term tactical thinkers and Chinese are long-term strategic thinkers. We need to “regularize” the dialog. [Spoke in Chinese to emphasize his capabilities] We should negotiate on a sub-national basis. Having Mayors and Governors engage their counterparts in China. Increase use of the Internet. Increase our ability to communicate in Chinese. Lead by our values, engage in people-to-people exchanges.
• Iran -- Iran is a transcendent issue. Agrees we can’t live with a nuclear Iran. All options on the table. Iran: Additional sanctions do nothing and won’t work. Chinese and Russians will not cooperate with us.
• We can’t force history and shouldn’t be intervening to pick winners before dust settles.
• Afghanistan/Iraq not our future. We need to improve U.S. economic and educational capabilities.
• Foreign policy should be based on economics, security and our values.
• No blue sky between U.S. and Israel.
• Debt: 15 trillion in debt; 70% debt/GDP precludes growth. Debt is a national security issue. Everything should be on the table including Social Security and entitlements.
  We need to fix core and economy. Economy leads foreign policy.
• Need to fix our competitive environment. “Capital is a coward” Money will gravitate to the stronger system. Need to bring back our manufacturing base. Need a comprehensive dialog with
• Closing: Don’t ever underestimate the United States and we must fix our core.

Bottom line …

Huntsman is nominally a RINO Republican (Republican In Name Only), well-dressed, well-spoken, and can handle himself in an unscripted debate. He appears to speak and understand Chinese.

But we should never lose sight of the FACT that he serves at the pleasure of the President, Barack Hussein Obama, and is duty-bound to carry out Obama’s direct orders – no matter what ideological bent they may take. He will not be a policy maker nor will he be able to override the political influence of someone like Valarie Jarrett who appears to be unofficially running the White House and the Obamas.

He can’t do any worse than Hillary Clinton in pursuing Obama’s failed policies and will lend an unearned and undeserved claim of “bi-partisanship” to the cabinet if appointed.

-- steve