The Hill News

Jon Huntsman (R) sought to put on the spot his would-be foes for the 2012 GOP nomination, arguing that they have a "moral obligation" to outline an alternative to House Republicans' budget if they don't support it.

Huntsman, the former ambassador to China, turned up the heat on some of the other Republicans vying for the party's presidential nomination by challenging them to put forward their own Medicare reform plans if they won't support Rep. Paul Ryan's (R-Wis.) budget, and its proposed Medicare reforms.

"I admire Congressman Paul Ryan's honest attempt to save Medicare," wrote Huntsman, the former governor of Utah and former ambassador to China, in the Wall Street Journal. "Those who disagree with his approach incur a moral responsibility to propose reforms that would ensure Medicare's ability to meet its responsibilities to retirees without imposing an unaffordable tax burden on future generations of Americans."

The op-ed comes at an early but formative point in the race for the GOP nomination. Ryan's plan, which would transform Medicare into a voucher-based system for Americans under the age of 55, has become a political flashpoint as it faces withering criticism from Democrats.

Huntsman's said without hesitation that he would have backed the Ryan plan; ! his op-e d has the purpose of doubling down in support of the GOP plan, and challenging other Republican candidates to do the same.

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) had dodged saying directly whether he would sign the Ryan plan into law before relenting, and explaining that he'd support it if it were the only option. But Pawlenty's also said he plans to craft his own plan, which will differ in some ways from Ryan's plan.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) has also said he'll offer his own Medicare plan, but he's been more coy about saying whether he'd sign the plan. "That's the kind of speculation that is getting the cart ahead of the horse," he said Friday in Iowa.

The squeamishness is a testament to just how politically tricky it's been for some Republicans to maneuver around the Ryan plan, which even the House Budget Committee chairman admitted played a role in a Republican candidate's defeat in a special election last week in a GOP-leaning New York district.

The Democratic National Committee's (DNC) led the charge against Republican presidential contenders who've said they'll sign the plan, and Huntsman was no exception.

"It seems Ambassador Huntsman wasn't moved enough by his own words of moral imperatives to say whether, as President, he'd sign the Ryan plan that ends Medicare as we know it," said spokesman Hari Sevugan. "Of course, Ambassador Huntsman did have nothing but kind words for the Affordable C! are Act which ensures cost savings to strengthen Medicare.  H! e owes t he American people just as clear an answer on whether he endorses the Ryan plan."

But the challenge for the rest of the Republican field is that they're also just as mindful of the political peril they face if they don't show enough fealty to the Ryan plan. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) faced a jarring political reprisal from top Republicans in Congress after he called Ryan's plan "right-wing social engineering." Gingrich walked back his criticism and has said he'd support the plan, but the gaffe appears to have hurt him: a new Gallup poll showed his numbers tumbling in recent weeks.