This will be a big week for presidential campaigns

For Utahns, the upcoming week of presidential campaigning might be the most interesting ever. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has staked his campaign on a strong New Hampshire showing on Tuesday, and adopted Utah son Mitt Romney seeks to consolidate his front-runner status with a solid win. We explore the ramifications:

How well must Huntsman do in New Hampshire to remain a viable candidate and continue his campaign?

Pignanelli: "New Hampshire's political philosophy can best be described as neo-odd. One governor was re-elected after he said the state National Guard unit should have nuclear weapons." — Kimberly Marlowe. [Note: It is great fun to watch the Republicans behave like Democrats in prior elections — directionless and divided] In order for Huntsman to continue through January, several results must occur on Tuesday night. These are not impossible — but mandatory — for his future existence in this campaign. He must run a strong third behind Romney and Ron Paul. Romney must be held to 43 percent or less. The pundits and spinmeisters must conclude that the only credible alternative to Romney for true conservatives is Huntsman.

Webb: Huntsman is hoping to be the Rick Santorum of New Hampshire. He's slogged across the state, camping out there for months. He needs to have all the hard work pay off with a close second finish. He could possibly finish third and stagger on, if he's bunched in a tight group at the top. But without a nice fat bounce in New Hampshire, he won't have the money or organization to put up much of a fight in subsequent states.

Will Huntsman meet those expectations, or is New Hampshire the end of the road?

Webb: Huntsman has set high expectations, saying he needs to win New Hampshire. He's not going to make it. It was a longshot candidacy to begin with. After all, his last job was working for President Barack Obama. Wrong year. Wrong ideology. All of which is unfortunate, because Huntsman is just the sort of candidate needed to defeat Obama. I admire his unwillingness to pander to the far right, but that's the wing of the party that controls the nomination process.