Washington • Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has launched a federal political action committee, taking a big step toward a potential presidential bid.

Huntsman this week filed papers with the Federal Election Commission to establish "H PAC," an offshoot of the Horizon PAC, which is based in Utah and New Hampshire.

Aides stressed that it's not an announcement that Huntsman, a Republican, will take on President Barack Obama, but it comes only days after Huntsman resigned as the U.S. ambassador to China.

"He took an organizational step that will allow him to travel the country, discuss the issues that are important to him and support Republican candidates," PAC spokesman Tim Miller said.

Horizon PAC, built by longtime strategist John Weaver, had been described by aides as Huntsman's "campaign-in-waiting." Huntsman, now outside of any restrictions placed on him while serving as an ambassador, is free to start his own federal committee, which employs many of the same consultants as the Horizon PAC.

Huntsman is scheduled to deliver the commencement address at the University of South Carolina in Columbia on Saturday and two weeks later heads to New Hampshire for another graduation speech; the two states offer the first primaries in the presidential race.

Huntsman, whose service in the Obama administration may be considered a detriment to his candidacy, could seek to fill a void of a moderate candidate in the Republican field and one with vast foreign policy experience, political observers say.

But forming a federal committee doesn't mean he's in for the long-haul campaign, either.

"There's other things one can do with a PAC like that — which is support different candidates. It's not the only thing one can infer from this step," says Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Fordham University in New York City. However, "I do think that these decisions would signal that possibility [of a presidential bid]. It's already a crowded field and I think that sure, there's every reason for him to consider tossing his hat in the ring. But one would have to weigh very delicately the pros and cons of entering a field that's as crowded as the GOP field is for 2012."

Several other potential contenders have already established exploratory committees that allow them to crisscross the country gauging support and raising cash. Former Govs. Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty took that step weeks ago and several White House hopefuls, Pawlenty included, will meet Thursday in South Carolina for the first of a series of presidential debates.

Huntsman, meanwhile, has made the best of his short time back in the States, meeting early Sunday with Horizon PAC officials and spending time on Capitol Hill.

The former governor was seen chatting nonchalantly outside the Russell Senate Office Building on Tuesday afternoon with a group of people.

tburr@sltrib.com