Staff sniping at the frontrunner doesn't really speak to the question of the candidate's ability and willingness to drive a contrast message. Sources say Huntsman now understands that he needs to make a more assertive case against Romney and Obama in order to break out of his static position. The debates are an obvious place to try this. But it will take a lot of splash and skill to overcome the Bachmann and Perry supernovas and gain the attention required to be seen as a gladiator in the arena. Huntsman needs to add that description to elements of his current image: "ambassador, father, Mandarin speaker, favorite of the Vanity Fair set."