COLUMBIA, S.C. — A week after leaving his post as U.S. ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman appeared Saturday to edge closer to challenging his former boss for the White House, meeting with top Republican Party leaders and telling an audience of graduates that America is “still the envy of the world, we are still as full of potential as ever.”
“I know there are many in China who think their time has come, that America’s best days are over, and there are probably some in this country who have lost confidence and think that China is the next best thing,” he said. “The real test of a nation is not how well it does when times are good, but how well it does when times are tough. The way I saw it from overseas, America’s passions remain as strong today as ever.”
In his 20-minute address, the former governor of Utah touched on human-rights abuses in China and said that revolutions, business and technological innovations are still fueled and inspired by America.
Although Huntsman’s commencement address to the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of South Carolina was shorn of overt politics, it comes as he has stepped up his campaign efforts in the state.
Since leaving the Beijing post, Huntsman has been doing everything a man interested in a presidential run would do. On Friday, he met with South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, who emerged from their meeting saying that Huntsman is likely to be a serious candidate. He also has formed a political action committee for fundraising efforts and has been consulting with advisers with national campaign experience.
This month he will go to New Hampshire, another crucial primary state.
Huntsman, 51, echoed other Republican Party leaders, saying that the GOP field for 2012 is far from set. “There’s always room for a new voice,” he said Friday after he met with Haley.
