How would raging Tea Party Republican primary voters react to a presidential candidate who works for Barack Obama, the worst human in history? "Coldly," one might think. But Obama's ambassador to China, Republican Jon Huntsman, is going to try anyway.

Huntsman was a popular governor of Utah whom Team Obama, early on in this administration, considered its most formidable opponent for 2012. He's a smart fellow who speaks Mandarin, hence the Chinese gig. He supports gay civil unions and cap-and-trade, which is enough to make him a "moderate Republican." He looks pretty on television. Obama noticed these things early on and offered him a job, which Huntsman actually accepted it. The fool! How would he ever be able to run as a Republican in 2012 after that?

And yet he's probably doing it anyway. From Politico:

The White House expects Jon Huntsman, the U.S. Ambassador to China, to resign his post this spring to explore a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, top Democrats said.

GOP allies of Huntsman have already begun laying plans for a quick-start campaign should the former Utah governor decide to enter the ill-defined Republican field.

While Huntsman has no direct involvement in it, a group of operatives that could eventually comprise his strategy team has set up an entity called "Horizon PAC" to serve as a placeholder for his political apparatus.

But... but maybe when early Republican primary voters hear him out, they'll all come to like him! That's good for a laugh. His strategy, if there is one, is probably similar to Mitt Romney's this time around: Let the Tea Party candidates scream and burp until they cancel each other out, and then sort of "swoop in" for the upper-middle class suburban dad vote.

[Image via AP]