NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME – AT 9:17 A.M. ET:  I'm afraid that's the judgment we have to make about former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, now running for the GOP presidential nomination, after serving a stint as Obama's ambassador to China. 

Huntsman hardly registers in current polls.  His graph is about the same as that of a guy who's just been pronounced dead at a better hospital.  He tried to shake things up over the weekend with an outlandish, over-the-top attack on his Republican competitors, something that created high consternation in the Republican Party and much buzz around the internet.  Pollster Frank Luntz predicted that the attack would be vigorously rejected within the party, and it has been.

Now Huntsman comes out with this, from Fox:

WASHINGTON – Republican presidential hopeful Jon Huntsman says he'd be open to running as vice president if rival and tea party favorite Michele Bachmann wins the nomination.

The former Utah governor, who was appointed ambassador to China by President Barack Obama, says that every time he's been asked to serve his country he's answered "yes." He resigned his China ambassadorial post earlier this year.

Huntsman told CNN interviewer Piers Morgan on Monday that if asked by the Minnesota congresswoman to run as her vice president he'd "be the first person to sign up, absolutely."

COMMENT:  Geez.  Now, of course, Huntsman tried to backtrack, saying he expected to win the nomination.  But saying you'd agree to serve as Michele's v.p. isn't exactly a winning statement.

Okay, Jon, you've introduced yourself.  Now please return to the private sector and live to fight another day.  Just don't say you'd agree to serve as Sarah Palin's social secretary. 

August 23, 2011