US Ambassador to China John Huntsman was in the news today after a Newsweek article (unfortunately titled The Manchurian Candidate) speculated that Amb. Huntsman will run for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination. James Fallows is very skeptical:

Several friends in China have written to ask what I think of this Newsweek report that Jon Huntsman Jr., currently the US Ambassador to China, is planning to run for the GOP presidential nomination next year.

What I think is: Are you kidding?

Fallows list several convincing reasons why a 2012 run by Amb. Huntsman is unlikely. I would add that buying a house in Washington DC not only is not a sign that he is considering a run but in fact may be a sign he has no imminent plans. If he were running for 2012 why buy a house now, when you are planning to move into the nicest house in DC in just two years?

In mid-December Amb. Huntsman sat for a long interview with Charlie Rose. The chat is worth watching (Charlie Rose doesn’t allow embedded video, but you can you click the picture below to go to the video):

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