Huntsman calls out Romney and GOP rivals on debt debate

As the House prepares to take up John Boehner's debt bill, Jon Huntsman remains the only 2012 hopeful who has endorsed the speaker's legislation--a position he's trumpeting on the campaign trail.

At a GOP dinner in Washington Thursday night, the former Utah governor criticized both President Obama and his Republican presidential rivals for not showing leadership in the debt debate.

"The president has not put forward a concrete deal on the table, none of my opponents have supported a plan that would allow us to avoid default," Huntsman said in a speech to the Republicans for Environmental Protection, per CNN. "This is not a time ladies and gentleman to be playing politics."

Hours later, Huntsman took aim at his rivals again on the debt crisis in an interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, in which he praised Boehner's bill and called it "the only act in town."

"My opponents in the race haven't even come up with what they support," Huntsman said.

Asked if he was referring to Mitt Romney--who has declined to take a public stance on the Boehner legislation--Huntsman indicated he was.

"You've got to stand up," Huntsman said. "This is a time when leadership matters, and you've got to stand up and voice where you are. We are kind of at the 11th hour. This is crunch time, and this isn't academics. This isn't theory. This is the real world."

Huntsman's comments come just days after his campaign said he would begin to take a more aggressive tone on the trail in hopes of gaining momentum in the 2012 race. The former governor has been stuck in single digits since he jumped into the race in late June. That's partly because of his low name recognition among GOP voters and skepticism among conservatives about his moderate views on issues like gay marriage and his service as Obama's ambassador to China, a post he resigned in April.

As The Ticket reported earlier this week, most 2012 hopefuls have been cool to Boehner's debt plan. Michele Bachmann, Ron Paul and Tim Pawlenty have publicly come out against it, while Romney has repeatedly refused to say where he stands.

On Friday, Romney tweeted a message questioning Obama's leadership on the economy. That prompted a snarky response from Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller.

"Speaking of failing to lead, what's your debt ceiling position," Miller tweeted at Romney.