This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
While it appears Jon Huntsman Jr. and Tim Pawlenty are now vying for the role of dark-horse presidential candidate, it wasn't long ago that Huntsman played a different role, as a T-Paw cheerleader.
In August of 2009, just before pulling up stakes and heading to Beijing to be U.S. Ambassador to China, Huntsman sent a letter to each of his fellow governors, thanking them for their friendship and inviting them to China.
A handful had a little personal touch, like the one sent to Pawlenty, where Huntsman simply wrote at the bottom: "Go for it!"
Hard to know exactly what "it" was, but it seems pretty safe to assume that Huntsman was encouraging his fellow Republican governor to jump into the presidential race. The irony is that it would be a direct challenge to the guy who had just given Huntsman his dream job, President Barack Obama.
In hindsight, of course, encouraging a Republican to run for president seems like just a minor affront compared, say, to running against him oneself.
— Robert GehrkeTwitter: @RobertGehrke