Huntsman rally projects triumphant air

EXETER, N.H. — It was Jon Huntsman’s closing pitch to voters in New Hampshire, but his evening rally in a crowded municipal hall had the distinct feeling of a victory party.

Supporters arriving at the Exeter town hall on Monday saw Huntsman’s name projected onto the front of the building above multicolored lights. Huntsman fans with megaphones enticed passersby to join the fun.

{mosads}“Everyone’s doing it,” they said.

Inside, a throng of hundreds erupted into chants of “join the Hunt” when they spotted Huntsman, clad in a bomber jacket with an American flag on his sleeve, slipping into the mezzanine for a live interview with Fox News’s Greta Van Susteran. When he descended to join his supporters on the main level, he stood not on the stage but on a temporary platform in the middle of the hall, surrounded on all sides by his red-and-black signs and similarly colored pompoms.

“Every stop along the way, I hear the same thing: Something is happening out there,” Huntsman said to spirited cheers. “I have no idea what it is going to mean tomorrow night. But I do know this: We’re going to surprise a whole lot of people in this country.”

Huntsman, who has staked the entirety of his presidential ambitions on a top-notch performance in New Hampshire’s first-in-the-nation primary, has seen his poll numbers finally start to climb in the lead-up to Tuesday. Huntsman told the crowd his campaign was marking its 170th public event in the Granite State.

But with little groundwork laid in any other state, Huntsman will need a top-tier showing Tuesday if he can hope to have the resources, momentum and credibility to launch a competitive effort beyond New Hampshire.

“Tonight we stand here with a great following in this state. You’re all a part of a movement,” he told supporters.

As he concluded his rally, he was showered with confetti fired from cannons above the heads of Huntsman and the supporters he has patiently courted.