Jon Huntsman: Third place finish in New Hampshire primary is 'a ticket to ride'

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MANCHESTER, N.H. — Jon Huntsman Jr. called his third-place finish Tuesday in the nation's first presidential primary "a ticket to ride" on to South Carolina, the next state to vote in the race for the GOP nomination.

His campaign had hoped that Huntsman could come in a close second behind primary winner Mitt Romney, the other candidate in the race with Utah ties.

Instead, Huntsman trailed both Romney and Texas Rep. Ron Paul. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich was fourth.

In a fundraising email sent early Wednesday, Huntsman said he's hitting "the ground running" in South Carolina. "Then it's off to Florida and beyond. There's a long way to go, but we're confident that our message and our momentum from (Tuesday's election) will continue into South Carolina."

Dave Woodard, a politicial science professor at Clemson University and a South Carolina pollster, wasn't so sure.

"It's a ticket to ride for Jon Huntsman. It's a freight train for Mitt Romney," Woodard said of the New Hampshire primary results. "We'll see what happens down here."

Huntsman had a welcome event scheduled at the Columbia, S.C., airport midday Wednesday, but Woodard said he may have difficulties attracting a crowd because four other candidates are also campaigning in the state capital.

Tuesday, flanked by his parents, his wife, and his three oldest daughters, Huntsman tried to sound upbeat as he told a crowd gathered at the Black Brimmer bar and grill in downtown Manchester, "We're in the hunt!"

But missing from his speech was the enthusiasm of the past few days, when an uptick in the polls drew bigger crowds and more media to his public appearances and allowed Huntsman to finally claim momentum in the race.

There were cheers and chants from the crowd at the bar and grill, but the event fell short of the send-off Huntsman received at his final campaign rally held at the Exeter town hall Monday night, where there were more people, more noise and even more confetti.

"Huntsman put the best face on it he could," said University of New Hampshire political science professor Dante Scala. "But it's a big disappointment."

Scala said he did not expect Huntsman to continue his candidacy.