A US envoy and a good listener

On Feb 4, the US Senate's Foreign Relations Committee approved President Barack Obama's nomination of Senator Max Baucus (Democrat from Montana) to become US ambassador to China. The full Senate confirmed Baucus' nomination several days later.

The appointment of the veteran lawmaker (the 72-year-old was first elected to the US Senate in 1978) and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has raised some eyebrows in the United States and China. What considerations prompted Obama to nominate Baucus? How much does Baucus know about China or Asia? What might one expect during his tenure as US ambassador to China? As with any important presidential appointment, many questions have been raised.

It is a common practice for US presidents to use diplomatic appointments to reward big financial contributors, friends and political allies. According to most estimates, roughly 30 percent of US' diplomatic postings overseas go to these political appointees rather than career diplomats. In some regions of the world such as Western Europe, more than 70 percent of the jobs are political appointments. When campaigning for president in 2008, Obama promised to end this practice. But he has not lived up to that pledge. His appointment ratio (30 percent political/70 percent career) mirrors the record of his predecessor George W. Bush.

To be sure, Senator Baucus is a political appointee. But it would be unfair to compare him to someone like George Tsunis, a hotelier who donated more than $1.3 million to the Obama campaign in 2012. Tsunis, the president's choice for US ambassador to Norway, proved to be an embarrassment when testifying during his confirmation hearings.

It is likely that three considerations led Obama to nominate Baucus as the next ambassador to China.

First, the lawmaker had announced his intention to retire and not seek re-election in 2014. His "early retirement" will enable Montana Governor Steve Bullock to appoint a fellow Democrat to replace Baucus as senator. The replacement will run with the advantage of incumbency and thereby improve the Democrats' chances of holding onto their majority in the US Senate.

Second, Baucus appears to be a bit of a "maverick" in US politics. At times, he has sided with the Republicans (he voted for the Bush tax cuts in 2001). Although he helped steer Obama's Affordable Care Act through Congress, he also grabbed headlines after publicly warning Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of health and human services, that the rollout could be a "huge train wreck". The prediction infuriated administration officials. With Baucus out of the country, administration initiatives might receive less scrutiny in the Senate Finance Committee.