Despite his likely third-place finish in New Hampshire, Jon Huntsman will stay in the race, his campaign tells First Read.

"Of course, [We] were left for dead just three days ago, and look how much ground we've gained in that short time," Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller said when asked if Huntsman will continue on even if he finishes behind Ron Paul. "We are very excited about our momentum."

Huntsman senior advisor John Weaver says despite Romney's win, the campaign believes Mitt Romney leaves New Hampshire as a weaker frontrunner because of what Weaver calls Romney's verbal flubs over the last few days.

Reached just after NBC News projected Paul would come in second, Weaver said, "Our fundraising has picked up since the debate; our donor community is very excited about the way we finished the campaign, and we are heading to South Carolina."

Weaver added that Huntsman's message in his speech tonight is that he put "Country First" -- and Romney put politics first.

A Super PAC supporting Jon Huntsman's presidential candidacy, Our Destiny PAC, is airing a 60-second TV ad in New Hampshire (on broadcast and cable) to help Huntsman in the Granite State.

The ad concludes with an elderly man looking into the camera and saying: "Why haven't we heard of this guy?"

A source familiar with the ad says it is a "substantial" buy.

CONCORD, NH -- Jon Huntsman cemented his one-state New Hampshire campaign strategy by registering for the Granite State primary at the State House this afternoon. The former Utah governor handed Secretary of State Bill Gardner a $1,000 check and autographed a commemorative election form that removed any remaining doubt that he is focused here.

"In the Hunt -- and only in NH!" Huntsman wrote in black marker.

Earlier today -- the first day of a two-week filing period -- Ron Paul registered first via a proxy, campaign staffer Chris Younce. Fred Karger also registered this morning, presenting Secretary of State Bill Gardner with an oversized check and campaign frisbee.

Vice President Joe Biden will file on behalf of President Obama on Thursday, according to the Secretary of State's office.

Huntsman expressed confidence about his campaign in New Hampshire, despite dismal campaign finance numbers that show him in nearly $900,000 in debt and low national poll numbers.

"I'm not at all worried at all. I was the co-chairman of a candidate by the name of John McCain who was flat broke -- in fact more than that, he was a couple million bucks in debt when he was sitting right here in New Hampshire," Huntsman told reporters. "And he turned it around in this state, because he had a message the people felt strongly about."

Huntsman, who is boycotting Tuesday's GOP debate in protest of Nevada's early caucus, will hold a town hall meeting at approximately the same time as the televised debate. He will also host a separate town hall event tomorrow afternoon.

Earlier last week, Huntsman was the first GOP candidate to publicly boycott the Nevada caucuses, accusing Mitt Romney of pushing for an earlier date.

"To upend the calendar at this point really does smack of politics to some degree," Huntsman said today.

"I would call on those who haven't already expressed a boycott toward Nevada to do so," he told reporters.

According to the excerpts of the foreign-policy speech he'll deliver in New Hampshire, Jon Huntsman will hit the Obama administration, as well as reiterate his call to bring U.S. troops home from Afghanistan.

"The world needs American leadership now more than ever. Yet we are struggling to provide it. President Obama’s policies have weakened America, and thus diminished America’s presence on the global stage. We must correct our course."

But here is the problem for Huntsman: He served faithfully as the Obama administration's ambassador to China -- promoting its policies until he decided to launch his presidential bid. If Huntsman believed the Obama administration "weakened America," why didn't he resign in protest? (In fact, you could make the argument that a Huntsman candidacy could have caught on more with conservative Republicans had he resigned his post in a blaze of glory.)

Instead, after he was picked to serve in the administration, Huntsman penned a letter calling Obama "a remarkable leader." And as Huntsman said of his service as China ambassador back in May, "I worked for the president of the United States. The president asked me -- the president of all the people. And during a time of war, during a time of economic difficulty for our country, if I'm asked by my president to serve, I'll stand up and do it."

The Huntsman campaign is moving north for the Winter.

In a restructuring that seemed inevitable, the former Utah governor's campaign will move its headquarters from Florida to New Hampshire, spokesman Michael Levoff confirms.

"As evidenced by recent polling Jon Huntsman's support with New Hampshire voters continues to grow every day," campaign manager Matt David said in a statement, "and this move will ensure that we have the resources necessary to win the First in the Nation primary. Success in New Hampshire is vital for our campaign to have the momentum we need to succeed in South Carolina, Florida, and the states that follow."

The move will include staff layoffs. Some key players, however, will continue in their roles, including David, chief strategist John Weaver, and New Hampshire head Sarah Crawford Stewart. The campaign will keep a presence in Florida and South Carolina.

Huntsman, who saw a bump in a recent poll in the Granite State to 10%, last week acknowledged that he would be focusing singularly on New Hampshire.

Huntsman is due back in the Granite State for more town-hall meetings next week, and he will participate in the next two debates.

CONCORD, N.H. – Jon Huntsman hopes to peck away at Donald Trump and Mitt Romney with Tweets.

Last night, a Fox News poll showed Trump's endorsement for the White House would have a more negative impact than positive. And over the past two days, Huntsman's campaign has been mocking rivals Romney and Rick Perry for meeting with Trump in New York.

Today, Trump decided he didn't exactly like all of this. The real estate magnate-turned-reality-show star went straight for Huntsman, Tweeting: "@jonhuntsman has zero chance of getting the nomination. Whoever said I wanted to meet him? Time is money and I don't waste mine."

Huntsman's spokesman Tim Miller, who has been Tweeting about Trump this week already, hit back in a statement to NBC: "Unlike Rick Perry and Mitt Romney Governor Huntsman isn't wasting his time with Presidential Apprentice, his focus is on real solutions to fix our nation's economy." He later Tweeted a similar statement.

When word for surfaced that Romney was meeting with Trump, Miller Tweeted: “Is Orly Taitz next on his list?” Taitz  is a so-called “birther,” an activist who has falsely pushed the notion that President Obama was not born in the United States, a sentiment Trump also attempted to lend credence to.

The ongoing stream of anti-Trump tweets and statements seem to be the Huntsman campaign's latest attempt to use Twitter to poke fun at the rest of the pack. Huntsman also attacked Rick Perry for his global-warming views, daring everyone to call the former Utah governor "crazy.”

"Governor Romney's Trump courtship certainly won’t help him in New Hampshire," Miller said yesterday.

"We're rooting for Gov. Romney and The Donald taking a helicopter to Manchester to announce this key endorsement, the search for the birth certificate, and their conveniently timed flip-flops on abortion," he told NBC News.

MANCHESTER, NH -- This morning, GOP presidential candidate Jon Huntsman confirmed what reporters on the campaign trail in New Hampshire have been seeing for weeks.

"We are going to focus singularly on New Hampshire," the former Utah governor said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." This comes after Huntsman recently brought aboard a new state director, transferred staff from Florida to New Hampshire, upped his town hall appearances, and injected his own $500,000 to keep the operation afloat.

However, a one-state strategy could prove to be a problem for the campaign. The good news for Huntsman: His poll numbers are up in the Granite State, hitting 10% in last week's Suffolk/7News for a third-place finish ahead of Rick Perry. He said last week he is pleased with the momentum.

The bad news: Huntsman might have a national problem on his hands. To appear in the televised debates -- specifically CNN's debate next month -- Huntsman must poll at 2% to meet the minimum requirement. Right now, he is polling at 1%. So he has 20 days to boost his numbers nationally. This could require something of a national strategy, precisely the opposite of what the campaign has been doing as they roll back to focus on New Hampshire. The campaign would not comment on the matter.

Other news in the Huntsman world: Liberal filmmaker Michael Moore expressed major support for the former ambassador to China on CNN this week, calling him "reasonable."

"There's only who has sanity operating inside of him and that's Jon Huntsman," Moore told CNN's Piers Morgan. "If the Republican party and Tea Party were smart, they would run somebody who would not only get the Republican vote but also a big chunk of the independents and maybe some of the Democrats. But they're not... They're on the Tea-tanic."

The Huntsman campaign would not comment on the Moore endorsement.

MANCHESTER, NH -- Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge, who served as George W. Bush's former Homeland Security secretary, today endorsed Jon Huntsman here in New Hampshire, calling him "only candidate with demonstrated success at the state, national, and international levels."

"Jon has a proven record in creating jobs, strengthening America's competitiveness and advancing our interests in a global economy," Ridge told reporters. "His significant experience and statesmanship already signal 10 times over that he is ready to take on the complex challenges facing the country and meet the demands of America's leadership with the rest of the world."

"He has a unique combination of leadership and statesmanship the country needs now," Ridge added. "We need leaders who inspire us to compete. He has the judgment, temperament and vision to lead America."

Huntsman returned the compliment: "What I love about Tom is that he is a problem solver, not a flame thrower."

"I am humbled to gain the support of one of our nation's most respected public servants," the former Utah governor and U.S. ambassador to China said. "Tom has been on the front lines of some of the most important issues facing our nation, and I'm proud to have the support of such an experienced voice."

Ridge's endorsement comes in the midst of significant staffing changes and financial challenges for the Huntsman campaign. Most recently, here in New Hampshire, Huntsman fired his state campaign manager and replaced him with seasoned New Hampshire campaign staffer and John McCain's New Hampshire deputy campaign manager, Sarah Crawford Stewart.

Ridge's endorsement was first reported in the New Hampshire Union Leader.

MERRIMACK, NH -- Republican presidential candidate Jon Huntsman today was greeted by a full marching band here at Merrimack High School, before he criticized the GOP field for "political bluster" on Social Security and slammed Mitt Romney on his approach to China.

Huntsman talked about the "scary references" to Social Security in Monday's GOP debate.

"This is all about presenting real proposals to the American people, cutting out the scary references, cutting out the political bluster and hot air," Huntsman said. "We find ourselves sometimes at extreme ends politically kinda shouting past one other. All the American people are looking for is simply some proposals. Just give us a road map."

The former ambassador to China also jabbed Romney on his jobs plan, which calls China a currency manipulator. Huntsman cautioned Romney that election campaigning could endanger the relationship.

"We don't want a trade war during a recession," Huntsman said about Romney's China position to call the country a current manipulator.

"Rhetoric doesn't work. The US-China relationship has never been based on rhetoric. That may work when you're trying to get a cheer or a response from an audience. But in the real world, which is where I see the US-China relationship, those are the kinds of things that result in unwanted results and an escalation of trade frictions. Those don't get us anywhere. They don't create jobs."

Huntsman's campaign also announced that the executive chairman of Morgan Stanley Tom Bell, as well as Nike chairman and co-founder Phil Knight, will serve as his business and economic advisers.

CONCORD, NH -- At a gun show here in New Hampshire's capital city, Jon Huntsman attempted to silence speculation on the future of his White House bid.

When asked if he would run as an independent candidate, Huntsman chuckled and said, "I'm running as a Republican, proudly so. And I think we will get a lot of independent votes no doubt about that."

Forty-two percent of New Hampshire's voters are undeclared as of spring 2011, according to the Office of the New Hampshire Secretary of State.

Huntsman, who has owned guns since his youth, and his wife Mary Kaye showed particular interest in several antique guns and browsed a wide array of bullets. "I've been shooting guns since I was six, when I started with a b.b. gun then a .22 when I was 12, which I still have,"Huntsman said.

"I like the 30-30 classics," he said. That's probably my favorite coming from the West."

Huntsman kicks off the second half of this New Hamphire swing tomorrow with two county fair visits.