MANCHESTER, N.H. - Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman woke up on primary morning to the news that he had crept ahead once again in the New Hampshire 2012 tracking polls.

After languishing in the single digits last week, the GOP candidate saw his last-minute support jump from 9 percent to 16 percent as of Tuesday.

Though frontrunner Mitt Romney remains well ahead, still leading with a healthy 37 percent, Ron Paul's support has barely risen in the last week, nudging up from 17 to 18 percent support. With only a two-point difference between them, Paul and Huntsman are essentially tied for second place.

Huntsman has staked the future of his campaign on New Hampshire, skipping the Iowa caucuses to focus on the independent and undecided voting blocs in the Granite State.

His efforts appear to be paying off, if exit interviews with voters are any indication. But will Huntsman's efforts in New Hampshire, and his strategy for wooing independent voters, be enough to keep him in the race? In fact, his efforts to cast him as the "sane Republican" are likely only to alienate the Republican base, a group whose support he needs to win the nomination.

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Huntsman Brings In Support

Huntsman's diligent efforts in New Hampshire did not go unnoticed by its voters. Nor was his debate performance, which featured some of his most pointed attacks in the campaign.

Jennifer, a registered Republican, told the International Business Times Tuesday that Huntsman was "a breath of fresh air," and agreed with his campaign slogan as both a "consistent conservative" and "the only sane Republican."

Jennifer was torn among Huntsman, Paul and Romney, and although she'd vote for anyone before Barack Obama, she admires Huntsman's political maneuvering, and his ability to put national concerns before personal prejudice.

"He has some good ideas, [and] he's not imposing, I think, a lot of his religious beliefs into his political campaign," Jennifer said of the Mormon candidate.

Nor are Republicans and Republican-leaning independents they only voters Huntsman attracted.

Several independents who usually vote Democratic are also casting their vote for Huntsman, and his performance over the past week was cited by many as the reason.

"I saw him in the debates Saturday night, and I liked the way he presented himself and his views," a voter named Brian said. "Just his general outlook."

Although Brian plans to vote for Obama if Romney gets the nomination, a GOP nominee like Huntsman would make him reconsider.

"I Can Get Elected"

Huntsman's ability to attract independent voters, and even Democrats who might have supported Obama, has been part of his sales pitch throughout the 2012 primary campaign.

"I can get elected," Huntsman told The Washington Post. "[I offer] good, center-right, pragmatic, problem-solving leadership."

Dismissing his Republican rivals as "teed up by the establishment," Huntsman argues that his bipartisan experience and emphasis on achievable goals like how to fix the economy and expand international trade are what set him apart.

It's also what attracted many of New Hampshire's voters today, including one holding Jon Huntsman 2012 posters outside a voting station in Manchester.

"It's going to take two things: one, someone who's experienced recovering an economy... [and] the bipartisan skills to get the job done," Julie said of the still-floundering American economy.

She was also impressed by Huntsman's refusal to rely on shock tactics or conservative soundbites like fellow candidates Newt Gingrich and Romney, and feels his experience as an ambassador to China will be crucial in years to come.

"I believe that international diplomacy and international affairs are really important to our country," she said. "And I think he's prepared for that."

"People want to know your core," Huntsman told the Post in a profile piece.

But wife Mary Kaye may have said it better: "He'd rather lose than be inauthentic."

Is Huntsman a Paul or a Romney?

And there may be the problem. Of the Republican candidates, Huntsman has always been the hardest to pigeonhole, and the hardest to simplify.

It is an asset in New Hampshire, which is likely why Huntsman has been campaigning so heavily there for the independent-leaning vote. But on the national stage, it could be devastating.

Some, including Huntsman, see him as the "consistent conservative" alternative to Romney. Both are former governors who are usually much more moderate than the other candidates. Both have sought to distance themselves from their wealthy family backgrounds by proving their interest is with the common man, whether through supporting health care reform or working toward immigration reform.

But Huntsman has also cast himself in opposition to Paul, and many voters outside heavily campaigned areas like New Hampshire still view him as a "lite" version of the libertarian candidate.

Both Huntsman and Paul argue that the American people have lost faith in their government, and that restoring "trust" in the government and limiting its reach are crucial to recovering that faith.

Both men also have markedly divergent views from the GOP party line on important issues, whether it be cutting aid to Israel and ending the war on drugs for Paul or building closer relations with China and facing the dangers of global warming for Huntsman.

"They pick corn in Iowa"

Beyond his relationship with the other candidates, the same nuanced and bipartisan approach that so appeals to New Hampshire supporters is the same thing that's likely causing Huntsman to have such a lukewarm base in the race at large.

"Don't mistake a moderate temperament for a moderate record," Huntsman said in a recent interview. But in the Republican primaries, it's hard not to.

Huntsman's record should speak for itself. A successful job-creator as the governor of Utah, Huntsman made great headway as the U.S. ambassador to China under Obama.

He can easily claim to be the most bipartisan candidate out there, while still remaining consistent in his positions on social issues like gay marriage and abortion.

But instead praising him for his attempt to unify America, the Republican base appears to be giving Huntsman the cold shoulder, unsurprising given the warm response that virulent attacks on Obama get the other candidates.

But Huntsman isn't doing much to help relations between himself and the GOP mainliners.

On CBS's "The Early Show" last month, Huntsman stunned viewers by putting down the Iowa and the caucus. "They pick corn in Iowa," he said, "and pick presidents here in New Hampshire."

"You need to have your base"

Andrew Smith, who directs the Survey Center at the University of New Hampshire, says that the undeclared voters that Huntsman is courting are not the same as the independents he thinks he will win.

"About 35 to 40 percent of these undeclared voters are really Democrats. They act like Democrats, they behave like Democrats, they vote like Democrats," Smith told NPR. "About 30 percent to 35 percent are really Republicans. And about 30 percent are truly independents."

Steve Duprey, a Republican national committeeman, agrees.

He believes that Huntsman's failure to appeal to mainline Republicans, working instead to win over independent or bipartisan-motivated voters, will score well in New Hampshire only to end up ruining his long-term campaign.

"Any appeal that does not go to the base could be the kiss of death," Duprey said.

"You need to have your base within the party and then attract independents, not the other way around."

Huntsman's Call to Unify

During the New Hampshire primary debate, Romney insinuated that calling Obama a "remarkable leader" and working with the Democrat meant Huntsman shouldn't represent the GOP in 2012.

"This nation is divided," Huntsman snapped back, "because of attitudes like that."

His response generated huge applause from the New Hampshire crowd. For voters following an anybody-but-Obama platform, however, a call to unify may be the last thing the GOP heartland is looking for.

New Hampshire voter responses prove that Huntsman touches a chord with many voters looking for an alternative to Obama that doesn't react by throwing out the idea of bipartisanship altogether.

But in America at large, Republican and Republican-leaning voters are looking for someone who they can understand, and who presents a clear difference from the other candidates and the incumbent.

Huntsman's bipartisan leaning, his moderate approach and his appeal to independents could challenge Obama's hold on liberal voters in November. But it's doubtful his own party will ever let him get that far.

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