Huh, so this is a thing that happened today.

President Obama Nominates Potential 2012 GOP Opponent to be Ambassador to China

In the White House’s Diplomatic Room, this morning, President Obama announced that he would nominate one of his potential 2012 Republican opponents, Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman to be Ambassador to China….

During the transition, then-President-elect Obama told his advisers to “think outside the box” when it came to pending appointments. A White House official says that Jeff Bader, senior director for Asian affairs on the National Security Council staff, told colleagues that he couldn’t think of a better candidate than Huntsman, who speaks fluent Mandarin Chinese from his time as a Mormon missionary, and has served in both the Commerce and State Departments.

Accusations of cynically sending potential opponents across the world aside, Huntsman is probably a good pick. Not a fan of him politically, but I do think that having a moderate-conservative as the Chinese ambassador will work out. There’s also the whole prog rock thing. Am I wrong in thinking that, if Huntsman can rock out with REO Speedwagon for a song or two, Wen Jiabao will be a pushover?