If there was any doubt about President Obama’s political genius after the election campaign was over, the POTUS certainly has done plenty to quell it. The man has to be given his fair share of credit, not for turning the country around, but for doing his best to keep the Republican Party down. When he saw a leadership vacuum in his opposing party, he made sure it was filled by someone who would keep independent voters away and so he crowned Rush Limbaugh our leader. When he saw an increasing divide between our party’s moderate pragmatists and our party’s conservative idealists, he drove a truck through it by recruiting moderate Republicans to his cause and making sure his own party offered viable moderate alternatives like Kristen Gillibrand. And now, when he realizes that moderates in the Republican Party just might be making a comeback and are being actively recruited by the RNC, he exiles the one moderate Republican with the best chance to beat him in 2012 to China.

Okay, so appointing Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. as U.S. Ambassador to China is not exactly the same thing as exiling him, but for political purposes it might as well be. As Ambassador, Hunstman will have plenty of crucial work to do on everything from trade, to the environment, to concerns over North Korea and Taiwan. I’m sure he will do an exceptional job at trying to resolve these issues just as I am sure he will get absolutely no limelight or credit for it. All this work and none of the credit, politically speaking, it begs the question why in the world would Huntsman take the job?

The answer speaks to Huntsman’s character. He is a faithful American public servant before he is a faithful Republican and in this one case where those two roles contradict, he chose the former. Those on both sides of the aisle can agree that Hunstman is the most qualified person for the job. Along with being a successful two-term Governor, Hunstman has also served as Deputy Commerce Secretary, U.S. Ambassador to Singapore, and Deputy U.S. Trade Representative. He speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese and, as a devout Mormon, served as a missionary in Taiwan. It would be nearly impossible to find someone with so many connections to the region as well as so much know-how on the key issues regarding U.S.-China relations. Knowing he was the best suited for the job made this a matter of duty for Governor Huntsman. As he himself put it, “When the president of the United States asks you step up and serve in a capacity like this, that to me is the end of the conversation and the beginning of the obligation to rise to the challenge.” I cannot fault him for accepting the President’s nomination because I am sure he did it for the right reasons.

But we would be naïve to think President Obama picked the former national co-chairman for Senator John McCain’s presidential campaign, just because of his qualifications. Since when has President Obama and his entourage care much about experience? The Obama team recognized that the Utah Governor was quickly become the popular leader of the moderate-wing of the Republican Party. The Obama team does not want there to be a moderate-wing of the Republican Party. This is why they worked to convince Senator Specter to switch sides. This is why they planned a photo-op with Florida Governor Charlie Crist to infuriate conservative Floridians. This is why they did not want the very likable, hugely popular, and chiefly pragmatic Governor Huntsman to present a viable Republican alternative to Obama’s policies. They didn’t want him to be around to help rebuild our party either.

The Obama teams knows it will have a much easier time defeating the far-right than it will defeating the center-right and an even easier time defeating both by driving a wedge between the two. While I cannot blame Governor Huntsman from answering the President’s call, we as Republicans must wizen up to President Obama’s game plan. So far, our “soul-searching” has produced far too much bickering and not enough consensus. Governor Huntsman would have been a great consensus builder for our party and still may be one in the future, but now we have to make sure the Republican Party doesn’t just become exactly what President Obama wants it to.

Last 5 posts by Abel S. Delgado

• Let’s Support the Cantwell-McCain Bill - January 6th, 2010
• Deeds Gets Dirty, Doesn’t Win Anyway - November 2nd, 2009
• Obama & The Berlin Wall - October 25th, 2009
• The Nobel Prom King - October 11th, 2009
• Bureaucratizing Interrogations a Horrible Idea - August 28th, 2009