Quote of the Day: Huntsman calls Romney "a perfectly lubricated weathervane"

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Jon Huntsman the Formidable (as I have called him, even if he has been anything but formidable on the campaign trail -- not that he ever had a chance) called out Mitt Romney today on CNN:

Huntsman continued popular criticism of Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, by accusing him of changing his positions on issues including Libya, the debt ceiling and Ohio's bill to limit the collective bargaining rights of union workers.

"You can't be a perfectly lubricated weather vane on the important issues of the day," Huntsman said. "Romney has been missing in action in terms of showing any kind of leadership."

"I do believe that the electorate this go around will be looking for clearly defined presidential leadership and I'm not sure we're seeing that," Huntsman added.

We're not seeing any of that on the Republican side (not really even from Huntsman himself, though he may come closer than any of them). And while I'm not sure Romney is any worse than, say, Perry, Cain, or Bachmann in terms of leadership, or lack thereof, Huntsman's assessment of him is spot on.

Of course, there's nothing new in calling Romney some variation of a flip-flopping opportunist who says whatever he thinks he needs to say to score political points, and this view of Romney is pretty much standard conservative fare.

But "perfectly lubricated weathervane" is just so poetic. Nicely done.