a good pick

Hello faithful readers,

I am finally back from blogging oblivion, crazy ultra-high stakes rapid trial that is only partially complete. You can read about it here, here, here, here, here, here, and other places.

Anyway, what I really want to write about is the news that Gov. Huntsman will be our next ambassador to China. This was the first Republican I had voted for statewide...sorry Bob Springmeyer. You could tell from the moment he stepped into the governor's mansion on South Temple, he was angling to get back into an Administration, not run his own. He smartly chose McCain over Romney, the safe choice in Utah, but it was not a GOP year. He represented the future of the Republican party: moderate on issues like climate change and gay rights. Trouble was, he was LDS and from Utah, which was a liability in the Republican party, which is nationally dominated by evangelical primary voters who are suspicious of the Mormon religion to say the least. Just ask Romney how that Iowa Caucus and South Carolina primary went.

Gov. Huntsman actually speaks Mandarin fluently from his days as a missionary in Taiwan. He has experience as an ambassador for Singapore, and as assistant trade representative under Dubya. I think this is a great choice on Obama's part in terms of qualifications and "bipartisanship"...but bad for the state for the next year or so. Lt. Gov. Herbert said proudly that he understands rural Utah, which is great and all, but Utah is the most urbanized state in the country. Something like 75% of the population live in a city or suburb, and most of those along the Wasatch front.

This move opens up the governor's race in 2010, which will pit Herbert or Shurtleff (if he doesn't have another Twitter spasm) against a quality Democratic opponent. There's already a Facebook group for Peter Carroon, and I am sure Jim Matheson will give the race a serious look.

I have to go now back to my regularly scheduled life, but I enjoyed sharing my thoughts with you all after so many months.