Gov. Jon Huntsman, who won re-election with a humongous landslide, has growing clout not only in Utah, but in Washington, D.C.

CNN's Wolf Blitzer calls Huntsman a GOP "rising star." A Washington Post political blogger says:

[Huntsman] has the looks and resume -- fluent in Chinese, progressive on the environment -- that could make him appealing for a party looking desperately for a different profile.

But the highest accolade may come from Barack Obama. The president-elect's transition team had a "feeling out" conversation with Huntsman about a possible job with the new administration. Obama, who said he would have Republicans in his cabinet, appears to have been serious. So far, Huntsman is playing hard to get:

I think we've already made our feelings known about coming back [to Washington]. We've got the best job in the world for one more term.

Huntsman is already rolling into that last term by taking on Utah's tourist-snubbing liquor laws. After getting some positive signs from the Mormon church, Huntsman is determined to abolish the club membership requirement to get a hard drink. To make his intentions abundantly clear, Huntsman is having his own staff draft the legislation.

Still, Huntsman is being careful in choosing his battles. He nominated district Judge Robert Hilder for the state Court of Appeals. But when he learned Hilder, who had angered gun rights advocates, faced an uphill battle for Senate confirmation, Huntsman went AWOL.

The Senate, which fears the gun lobby more than it does any governor, rejected Hilder. Huntsman's official, and extremely lame, response:

We hope this is not a reflection of a new era of how Senate confirmations are conducted of governor's appointees in the future.