Washington • Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman took shots at President Barack Obama and fellow Republican rivals Friday night, accusing the president of failing to lead and his opponents of "ducking" the debate on the debt ceiling crisis. "The president has given press conferences, he's lectured, he's pointed fingers, he's regurgitated the [Democratic National Committee] talking points, but he still has not offered a plan," Huntsman told a crowd of college Republicans. "My fellow candidates, and I love them all, aren't offering any real solutions and are ducking the debate entirely." Huntsman, whose campaign has vowed to take a more aggressive tone after lagging in polls, again steered clear of naming any of his fellow Republicans seeking the White House, but he attempted to paint them as absent from the contentious impasse on raising the nation's borrowing limit. "A leader is not someone that's quietly on the sidelines during a debate of monumental consequences for our future," Huntsman said. Five weeks into his presidential bid, Huntsman tried to draw the distinction among his rivals, that he's the only one with a chance to win. "I want you to look at all the people in the race and I want you to ask yourself: Who can actually win the race, who can put together the kind of broad-based coalition that allows us to win in the end?" Huntsman said, noting no one can win by pulling 5 percent of the base on one issue here or 10 percent on another issue. "Some people are going to light up the marketplace and be the flavor of the week or the flavor of the month, but in the end, we need a candidate in this party who is actually going to be able to bring the numbers and get us across the finish line," Huntsman said. "I'm here to tell you I'm that candidate." Searching for traction in his campaign, Huntsman attempted to excite those in Washington for the College Republican National Committee and sell himself as the candidate that could help renew America's future and offer them a better country to inherit. If Huntsman is to appeal to the young voters, though, he'll have to bone up on his technology. Introducing himself to the crowd, he joked that his daughters would have to be careful on the "Twitters," and also noted that one of his kids was "doing Google the other day." In a room adjoining the ballroom where Huntsman was speaking, college students cringed. Several students, however, sported Huntsman campaign buttons, including Joseph Russo of Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. "I want to see that I'm voting for a person who is a good person," Russo said, noting he was impressed by Huntsman's foreign policy credentials and his strong family values. College-age voters, however, won't be the ones that swing the election for Huntsman. Voters in that bracket typically end up with the lowest turnout in primary and general elections. Michael P. McDonald, an associate professor at George Mason University who studies voter participation, pointed to a quote from Democratic strategist James Carville when asked about whether the youth vote could be key to Huntsman's campaign. "You know what we call candidates who rely on the youth vote? We call them losers," Carville famously said. McDonald says Friday's effort to reach out to young conservatives is probably more about attracting people who can spread the message or work on his campaign. "The target is to get volunteers, not to really increase youth turnout," McDonald said. tburr@sltrib.comTwitter: thomaswburr