MANCHESTER, New Hampshire--The excitement over a palpable sense here that Jon Huntsman is on the move in New Hampshire is mixed with a real frustration: That it may be too late.
Coming off his strongest debate performance and his biggest fundraising days, polls are closing in a few hours just as Huntsman is finally hitting his stride.
"I wish we has one more day," one longtime volunteer said in between phone calls to voters, drawing nods from seated around her in folding chairs in his garden level office in a dreary office building here.
Huntsman staffers were encouraged by today's Suffolk University poll showing the former Utah governor pulling within two points of second place, and are holding out hope that Romney's terrible 72 hours will translate to a surprise showing.
"A lot of people are deciding between us and Paul and us and Romney - which is odd since they couldn't be more different," another volunteer said, "and thankfully a lot of them are breaking our way."