Gov. Jon Huntsman's off-handed statement supporting civil unions, if not gay marriage, has whipped up a storm nationwide. When you factor in that Utah is the headquarters of the LDS church that was instrumental in banning gay marriages in California and that Huntsman has been annointed as a rising star of the national Republican Party — a potential presidential candidate no less — the reverberations make sense.

His statement has been picked up by gay news outlets around the country. The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights group, gushed over Huntsman.

We’re thrilled that Gov. Huntsman recognizes that it’s simply the right thing to do to support equality.

Right-wing bloggers, not so much. GOP12 calls Huntsman a "Maverick!":

Tack this onto his fight against draconian liquor laws and global warming, and you've got a genuine, and very popular moderate (90% of Utahns approve of the job he's doing) in the most un-moderate of states. We'll see if this makes a dent in his numbers.

Conservative Utah Rep. Carl Wimmer plans to counter Huntsman with a rally against the so-called Common Ground Initiative (a package of bills that would protect gay rights).

He wants to take us down a slippery slope to where essentially marriage is meaningless except for the name.

Nationally, middle-ground political bloggers, including The Moderate Voice, support Huntsman:

Observers noted that there was little to gain politically from the move since Huntsman was already re-elected in 2008 and there is little broad support for the policy among Utah voters. I for one say GOOD JOB to a brave man willing to stand for his principles.

Meanwhile, the question of the week among cynical observers is: Why did Huntsman stick his neck out on civil unions? Theories range from Huntsman is getting out ahead of a GOP that he is betting will move to the center after getting its ass handed to it in the last election to — the Guv didn't think supporting civil unions would be a big deal considering the Mormon church recently said it supports gay civil rights, if not same-sex marriage.

State Rep. John Dougall from Utah County muses to the Deseret News:

It's clear that he is not running again in Utah. He's moving to a national agenda. And his civil unions sound like gay marriage to me.

Even openly lesbian lawmaker Rep. Jackie Biskupski tells me her first reaction was:

What is he running for?

Openly lesbian Rep. Christine Johnson says:

I'll take it at face value — he's a very fair-minded governor.

Finally, one observer on Utah's Capitol Hill told me:

Huntsman has spent all his political capital in this one statement. It's gone.