Jon Huntsman Gave Criticism to Mitt Romney in His Political Campaign

"You're going to have a choice this election cycle. The establishment is going to tee up Mitt Romney and they’re going to say there’s your guy," Huntsman said at a town hall meeting at Manchester's public service utility. "But you know what? This nation can’t afford a status quo president."
Hours after Romney appeared elsewhere in Manchester with 2008 GOP nominee and two-time New Hampshire primary winner John McCain, Huntsman said his rival's support from dozens of Washington lawmakers showed he was not the candidate of change.
Source: Jon Huntsman says Mitt Romney would be 'status quo president', By Michael A. Memoli
http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-pn-huntsman-manchester-20120104,0,7582764.story

McCain is no darling of the right, but at this point Romney is concerned about two things: winning convincingly in New Hampshire, and making sure he faces in South Carolina a divided field of conservatives and no real competition for moderate voters. In other words, he wants to bury Jon Huntsman in New Hampshire, and if possible, to slow down the Rick Santorum train.
The first of these aims seems doable. The Suffolk University tracking poll of likely voters in New Hampshire’s primary reports: “Huntsman dropped three points, from 10 percent yesterday to 7 percent today. [Ron] Paul dropped two points, from 16 percent to 14 percent, despite a third-place finish in Iowa last night. The poll showed Romney maintaining his lead with 43 percent of the vote, followed by Paul (14 percent), Newt Gingrich (9 percent), Jon Huntsman (7 percent), while Rick Santorum (6 percent), fresh off an impressive Iowa Caucus second-place showing, managed to climb another point and is now within striking distance of third place.”
Source: Mitt Romney’s plan for New Hampshire: Burying Jon Huntsman, By Jennifer Rubin
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/post/mitt-romneys-plan-for-new-hampshire-burying-jon-huntsman/2012/01/04/gIQADMutaP_blog.html

Mr. Huntsman's strategy relies on New Hampshire voters who are unaligned with either party, who make up 43% of the electorate, said Andrew Smith, associate professor of political science who directs the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.
But while these voters are called "undeclared," most of them vote Republican, he said. So by failing to sound conservative themes, Mr. Huntsman "didn't define himself as a mainstream Republican and pitched his campaign to a bloc of voters which isn't large enough to get him a win in New Hampshire," Mr. Smith said.
Source: Clock Ticks for Huntsman in New Hampshire, By ELIZABETH WILLIAMSON
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204331304577141152281667404.html

Hoping to establish a competitive position once the Republican presidential primary contest shifts its focus from Iowa to New Hampshire, Jon Huntsman sharply criticized Mitt Romney on Tuesday, saying the frontrunner would be an agent for Wall Street and protector of the status quo if elected.
In an exclusive interview with The Huffington Post, the former Utah governor challenged Romney to prove his independence from the financial sector's biggest players.
Source: Jon Huntsman: Mitt Romney Would Be An Agent For The Big Banks, by Sam Stein
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/03/jon-huntsman-mitt-romney-wall-street-banks_n_1182005.html