NASHUA, N.H. — Most of the Republican presidential candidates on Tuesday were crisscrossing Iowa, making final pitches before the first-in-the-nation caucuses. Jon Huntsman was hundreds of miles away in a place he thinks of as his second home.
“Iowa will do their thing,” Huntsman said during a town hall in New Hampshire. “I believe those results will be forgotten in a day or two.”
Those words underscore the political reality for Huntsman, who believes his improbable path to the White House runs through New Hampshire. The former Utah governor has held more than 130 campaign events in the Granite State and has finally gained some traction — however modest — in recent weeks.
After languishing in single digits in the polls throughout the campaign, Huntsman is now competing with Texas Rep. Ron Paul for a strong finish in New Hampshire. His poll numbers have risen with a pair of influential newspaper endorsements and that could help him poach independent voters from front-runner Mitt Romney.
“I feel the wave effect happening in this state,” Huntsman said.
But it’s one thing to escape irrelevance and another altogether to win a state that has fostered a reputation for its contrarian approach to the presidential nominating process.
And a quick glimpse down Manchester’s main drag or at the store fronts in nearby Derry indicate just how daunting a task Huntsman faces: This is Romney country. The abundance of yard signs and bumper stickers showcases a well-entrenched organizational advantage that has helped create a substantial lead for New England’s favored son.
For Huntsman, who shares a number of characteristics with Romney — both were Mormon governors with moderate records — there is a limited pool of available voters to target in an increasingly conservative primary.
“I just don’t see Huntsman winning with this electorate,” said Chris Reardon, a University of New Hampshire political scientist. “He is going up against the Libertarian types and also the Tea Party types. And trying to overcome the Romney advantage is difficult.”
“Is this the floor or ceiling for Huntsman?” added Patrick Griffin, a senior fellow with the New Hampshire Institute of Politics. “The guy is probably the only real candidate who has engaged in the kind of retail politicking that those of us in New Hampshire preach the gospel about.”
Huntsman and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum are the only candidates in a field of seven who have yet to experience a surge of support — no matter how short-lived — in this fluid GOP primary. Unlike Santorum, who is betting his entire campaign on Iowa, Huntsman’s first and last stand is New Hampshire.
Huntsman, President Obama’s ambassador to China, struggled to shake the perception that he’s too closely aligned with the Democratic president Republicans are bent on defeating. That concern was hardly assuaged when Huntsman differed with his party on foreign policy — he called for the removal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan again Tuesday — as well as social and environmental policy.
But some New Hampshire voters say they are giving Huntsman another look.
“Why not Huntsman?” asked George Adamakos, a business development manger from Exeter, who attended Tuesday’s town hall. “That’s the funny thing about this state. We’re not easily persuaded by smoke and mirrors. He seems authentic.”
