NASHUA, NH -- The ad wars in New Hampshire are heating up, and Texas Rep. Ron Paul's campaign reserved the largest of several ad buys in the state just weeks before its primary.

The libertarian-minded congressman has reserved over $160,000 worth of airtime between Dec. 21-27, according to local station WMUR. That's good enough to run 142 spots on morning news, evening news and primetime ABC shows.

The ad Paul will run is an extended, 60-second version of his ad, "The One," which casts him as the only candidate suited to take on the environment in Washington.

It was the largest of several ad buys announced Tuesday.

Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who's pinned his hopes of winning the GOP nomination on winning the New Hampshire primary, was also the beneficiary of new spending from Our Destiny PAC, the political action committee established on his behalf.

Our Destiny bought just under $100,000 in airtime to air a total of 58, 30-second spots during morning and evening news between the dates of Dec. 20 and Jan. 1. Our Destiny also ran a full-page black and white print advertisement in the New Hampshire Union Leader's front section yesterday with almost the exact same quotes as the television spot.

Huntsman, at a town hall in Nashua, dismissed the importance of Jan. 3's Iowa caucuses in favor of the Jan. 10 New Hampshire primary.

"Iowa will do their thing and I believe the results of Iowa will kind of be forgotten in a day or two," Huntsman said. "And then the people of New Hampshire can stand up and you will render a judgment. And I like our position here. We've worked this state harder than anybody else."

Huntsman sits at 2 percent nationally according to a CNN/ORC poll released Monday, but enjoys slightly higher support (13 percent according to a Suffolk/7News survey) in New Hampshire. That's a noticeable rise after wallowing in low single digits for most of the summer and fall.

"This wave effect is happening," Huntsman said in Nashua. This morning's town hall marked his 127th public campaign stop in New Hampshire.

The campaign of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who leads in most polls of GOP primary-goers in the state, doled out about $60,000 for 161, 30-second spots over the same Dec. 21-27 time frame.

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Two top legislative leaders in Iowa and New Hampshire are set to endorse Newt Gingrich in the Republican presidential primary.

Iowa House Speaker Kraig Larsen and New Hampshire House Speaker are each expected to announce their support for Gingrich just weeks before their respective states host critical nominating contests.

The two speakers will appear together with Gingrich in Iowa on Wednesday before traveling to New Hampshire later that day for another endorsement event, according to the the New Hampshire Union Leader, which first reported the endorsements. Paulsen endorsed Fred Thompson in 2008. O'Brien did not endorse in the last cycle.

"Having a double endorsement would be a big win for the campaign. I hope it happens. We will wait and see," spokesman R.C. Hammond told NBC News, declining to comment directly on the endorsements.

It was widely expected that O'Brien would back Gingrich, but his support came only after flirtations with other campaigns. O'Brien had considered both Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann and helped lead a delegation to Austin this summer meant to encourage Texas Gov. Rick Perry to enter the race. The state house speaker also defended Perry to critics following a particularly jovial and energetic speech in Manchester earlier this fall.

Over the past several months, O'Brien made it known that he would not endorse Mitt Romney, the longtime leader in polls in the Granite State.

O'Brien's endorsement is one of the last major one remaining in New Hampshire ahead of its Jan. 10 primary. N.H. Rep. Frank Guinta (R) is expected to make a decision in the coming weeks between Romney, Gingrich, Jon Huntsman and Rick Santorum. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, Rep. Charlie Bass and Manchester mayor Ted Gastas have endorsed Romney.

AMHERST, NH -- Texas Rep. Ron Paul contended Wednesday that his recent ads and web videos about Newt Gingrich's record are not negative, but merely clarifying the former Speaker's history in politics and Washington.

"I think pointing out people's positions is not negative," he told reporters after stopping by a grocery store to meet voters Wednesday morning. "I think the candidates have a responsibility to point out, 'Well, his position used to be this.' What's wrong with that?"

This week, Paul released a new commercial and several web videos attacking Gingrich's record and Washington business ties, including receiving money from mortgage giant Freddie Mac. Earlier this week, Gingrich himself issued a letter to his staff vowing that he will stay positive during the campaign and instructing all staff and surrogates to "avoid initiating attacks on other Republican candidates."

When Paul was asked about Gingrich's promise to stay positive, he laughed aloud. "That's what campaigning is all about. He used to say this and he flipped over like this. I don't consider that negative," Paul said.

This comes amidst Paul's rise in Iowa polls. According to the latest NBC News/Marist survey in the Hawkeye state, Paul ties front-runner Mitt Romney at 17% while Gingrich surged ahead to 24%. In New Hampshire, Paul is securely in third place behind Romney and Gingrich respectively and ahead of former Utah governor Jon Huntsman.

"I think in political terms it means we're probably peaking at the right time," Paul said Wednesday morning.

Paul's voter turnout at single events in Iowa has ticked up into the quadruple digits. In New Hampshire, where he usually pulls around 300 people, he spoke to nearly 500 at the Peterborough Town House Wednesday night and stayed afterward to pose for pictures for all who were interested -- a Ron Paul campaign trail tradition that was mightily tested as hundreds waited in line to meet him.

Despite his momentum in early states, a universal question looms over these massive events. Over and over again in New Hampshire, diehard supporters wonder aloud in questions to Paul about his electability on the national stage. Throughout his swing in the Granite State, voters have encouraged the Texas congressman to push harder to make a case for himself.

"You need to start saying, 'I can get elected.' Because nobody is saying it. You have got to say it," a Republican voter told Paul this morning at a local Republican party breakfast at Joey's Diner.

"Well, you know why they say that?" Paul responded. "Because they're scared to death I will get elected. So they have to put a negative spin on it."

Looking at the long game, Paul is confident his campaign's organization can withstand an extended race, even if he hopes it is exactly the opposite.

"Well I'm not looking forward to anything being long and protracted so I hope it ends rather quickly and we do real well at the beginning of the year," Paul said.

"The organization is fantastic. The question is: am I going to hold up if I keep doing all of this?" the 76-year-old joked.

MANCHESTER, N.H. — It was an awkward moment over the breakfast table in Manchester.

On a campaign stop at a local diner, Mitt Romney sat down to chat with a Vietnam veteran who extended his hand to the former Massachusetts governor as Romney walked past his table. The vet, Bob Garon, who is gay, began to quiz Romney over his views on same-sex marriage, and what benefits the same-sex spouses of gay veterans should receive.

The exchange was brief, but testy.

"I believe that marriage is between a man and a woman and the defensive marriage act that is in Washington today defines benefits for whether for veterans or for non-veterans as between married spouses and for me that's between a man and woman," Romney said "We apparently disagree on that."

"You do not believe everyone is entitled to their Constitutional rights?" Garon replied.

"No, actually I think in the time the Constitution was written it was pretty clear that marriage is between a man and a woman and I don't believe the Supreme Court has changed that," said Romney.

"Oh, I guess the question was too hot," replied Garon, clearly disappointed. "No, I gave you the answer," Romney said.

"You have a good day governor," said Garon, dismissively.

As Romney got up to walk away after a few more not-so-pleasantries, Garon wished the former governor good luck, adding "You're going to need it."

"You're right about that," Romney said. "Good to meet you."

Garon later told reporters he would likely be supporting Ron Paul in the Republican primary here. He said it was his first, "and last" time meeting Governor Romney.

MADISON, N.H. -- With former House Speaker Newt Gingrich campaigning on his home turf of New Hampshire, Mitt Romney on Monday seemed to relish the opportunity to defend his Granite State fortress and step up his attack on Gingrich for his decades spent in Washington.

"I'm somebody who sees government as playing the role of encouraging our private sector to create jobs because I spent my life in the private sector. Speaker Gingrich has spent the last thirty years in Washington," Romney said. "If you think that a background in Washington and working to connect various people to Washington leaders and being in government affairs is what we need in Washington, why, he’s the guy."

The sarcasm was evident in Romney's response at this afternoon's town hall in Madison. Gingrich's creeping strength in New Hampshire is also evident, though. The state is a cornerstone of the former Massachusetts governor's White House dreams. In the latest NBC News/Marist poll of the state, Gingrich had cut Romney's once massive lead in the state to just 12 points.

Today, Romney's campaign continued to blister the former speaker in press releases and with surrogates, and Romney himself joined the fray by calling for Gingrich to return the estimated $1.6 million dollars he earned while under contract at Freddie Mac. When Romney was asked by a reporter to respond to Gingrich's counter-proposal that Romney return the money he may buying businesses at Bain, some of which ultimately failed, leading to layoffs, Romney scoffed.

"Doesn't he understand how the economy works? In the real economy some businesses succeed and some fail," Romney said. "The four enterprises I led were all successful. There's a big difference between working in the private economy and working on K street. Working as a lobbyist or working as a legislator or working to connect businesses with government."

NBC News also asked the famously buttoned-down Romney whether he needed to change his rhetorical style to prove to the Republican base that he too, like Gingrich, could "take it to" President Obama. Romney, who holds a 21-point lead in New Hampshire amongst Independent voters, responded that he would not do so and risk alienating the voters he might need to ultimately unseat the president.

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"My own view is you take it to President Obama by describing his failures. Not by saying things that people who voted for him in the past that we need to vote for us now, will find offensive. I know that among some folks saying outrageous or incendiary things will get you a lot of kudos or get your numbers up, but its not going to win us the White House," Romney said. "I think this president has been an extraordinary failure. I think this president has taken on a job and he's way over his head - but I don't think he's an evil person or a bad person. I think he's an uninformed, inexperienced person who doesn't know what it takes to get an economy to work.

Mixed in with his campaign's effort to diminish Gingrich and hit the president today was Romney's own charm offensive to win over uncommitted New Hamshirites, including accepting two local endorsements. Manchester Mayor Ted Gastas signed on during a breakfast stop at a diner, and anti-tax activist Tom Thomson lent his gigantic, tax-cutting axe to the Romney cause at the afternoon town hall.

Romney also continued his detente with reporters, holding his fifth press availability in his last six events, and sitting for at least two interviews.

The multi-millionaire former CEO, possibly still smarting from shots he took over Saturday's "$10,000 bet" moment also showed a little bit more of his personal side than usual. When asked to explain how he could understand the plight of those less fortunate than himself, Romney went into greater detail about a topic he once rarely mentioned -- his time serving in the role of a pastor in Boston's Mormon community.

"I had the pastoral assignment for about 10 years, maybe longer than that. And in that responsibility I had the occasion to counsel with people. Sometimes people with marital problems, sometimes with a child that was errant, and a lot of times with people who had financial difficulties." Romney said, later adding he ultimately learned from the experience. "We're all the same in the things we aspire for. The things we love: our family, our faith, our country. People are patriotic, rich or poor."

HOLLIS, NH -- Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich fired back at Mitt Romney this morning after the former Massachusetts Governor criticized Gingrich for his earnings as a consultant for Freddie Mac.

"I would just say if Gov. Romney would like to give back all the money he has earned from bankrupting and laying off employees over his years at Bain (Capital) then I would be glad to then listen to him, and I bet you $10 -- not $10,000 -- that he wouldn’t take the offer," Gingrich, who vowed to stay "positive" during his campaign, told reporters following a town hall in Londondarry.

This idea of "bets" being placed between the candidates began at Saturday night’s debate when Romney attempted to bet Texas Gov. Rick Perry $10,000 that he was wrong that Romney had said in the first edition of his book that he wanted to impose a federal health insurance mandate.
 
"He must have been really sure of himself," Gingrich said about Romney’s attempted wager with Perry. "I wouldn't bet that amount of money."

The former speaker's mock bet takes aim at a central component of Romney's pitch to primary voters: that he's a seasoned figure in the business community with requisite experience to turn the economy around. Romney had co-founded Bain Capital, a private equity firm that helped catapult and resuscitate a variety of businesses -- sometimes through painful cuts. Democrats, and now Gingrich, have honed in on that element of Romney's business.

It's part of an emerging war of words between Romney and Gingrich, fueled by Saturday night's debate, that's seeped into the final weeks of the primary campaign before voting begins. On Fox News this morning, Romney challenged Gingrich to return the money he'd received for his consulting work on behalf of Freddie Mac, the mortgage giant now under government conservatorship in part for backing subprime mortgages.
 
One attendee at Gingrich’s meet and greet at a small pharmacy here had a wager of her own:
 
“How much do you want to bet you can win N.H.,” the lady asked the Speaker inside the small pharmacy. “Not more than $10 dollars,” Gingrich responded with a smile.
 
Gingrich, who referred to himself as the “front-runner,” was peppered with questions from people within the Granite State at both events.
 
“I wasn't willing to stay and be a normal politician,” Gingrich admitted to a man at the Hollis Pharmacy who questioned his reasoning for stepping down as Speaker of the House. “I'd run out of the ability to convince my members to be reformers. They were burned out, they were exhausted, four straight years of doing everything and they were just too tired.”
 
“I would probably be a little bit more paced in how many things we did” if I was president, Gingrich admitted.
 
As both Gingrich and Romney continue to campaign in New Hampshire today, the back and forth between the two top GOP presidential may continue as both men will allow for another round of press briefings.

BEDFORD, N.H. -- Two high-profile supporters of Jon Huntsman announced they would support rival campaigns, a development coming just hours before the former Utah governor and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich meet on Monday at a Lincoln-Douglas-style debate.

Richard Brothers, a former state commissioner of employment security and a core member of Huntsman's New Hampshire leadership team, has "sever[ed] all bonds" with the campaign in an email to senior staff, citing a "lack of integrity and honesty of the parties within the campaign” regarding financial matters.

Huntsman's former campaign manager, Susie Wiles, is now supporting Mitt Romney in Florida.

Brothers moved quickly to endorse Newt Gingrich Sunday night. He will serve as a veterans’ affairs advisor in a volunteer capacity, the Gingrich campaign told NBC News.

Wiles will be named Romney's Florida advisory council co-chair, according to Romney spokesman Ryan Williams. Wiles was replaced on the Huntsman campaign by Matt David this summer.

At the same time as these exits, the Huntsman campaign sought to project an image of growing support, rolling out a statewide leadership team in New Hampshire consisting of 140 supporters and volunteer captains from all 10 counties in the state, and 90 towns and cities.

New Hampshire state Senator Nancy Stiles will chair the grassroots get-out-the-vote effort for the January 10 primary.

In an email Saturday evening to Huntsman’s chief strategist John Weaver, campaign manager Matt David, New Hampshire state director Sarah Crawford Stewart and other Huntsman staff, Brothers complained of financial troubles that caused him to abandon the Huntsman campaign. NBC News obtained a copy of the email from a high-level source close to the Gingrich campaign.

Brothers complained that the Huntsman campaign entered an agreement with Reliant Strategies -- an entity made up of Brothers and fellow early supporter Peter Spaulding -- to serve as consultants to the campaign at a rate of $15,000 per month beginning March 10, 2011. In the message, Brothers said the Huntsman campaign had not made payments from July through December. In November, Brothers said he requested payment for past due payments, but was informed by the campaign that the original $15,000 rate had been dropped to $5,000 without his prior consent, effective August 1.

Using dramatic language, Brothers called the unannounced rate change “nothing short of disgraceful and what can only be termed outrageous."

“Had we been informed in advance by the campaign there was a financial issue where the campaign was unable to meet its agreed upon obligations to Reliant Strategies we may very well have waved our agreed upon fees and continued to work on a voluntary basis as we had done on the first three months of this year,” Brothers added.

The Huntsman campaign denied the allegations.

"Richard Brothers had left the campaign and his accusations are false, we wish him the best in his future endeavors," Huntsman spokesperson Tim Miller told NBC News.

Miller also responded to the news of Wiles’ endorsement of Romney, saying, "Governor Romney's unusual decision to announce a paid political consultants ‘endorsement’ shows that his campaign is very concerned about Jon Huntsman's New Hampshire momentum and consistent conservative message."

Bleak finances have plagued the Huntsman campaign since the summer. According to the most recent FEC report, the campaign is approximately $900,000 in debt. It has depended on Our Destiny PAC, a pro-Huntsman super PAC believed to be funded largely by Huntsman's billionaire father, to air television ads.

The Romney campaign clarified in an email to NBC News that Wiles' position is unpaid.

WEBSTER CITY, Iowa -– Ron Paul spoke to over 50 people at a town hall on Friday in the Webster City Fire Station, the hometown of his Iowa Campaign Chair Drew Ivers.
 
Commenting on the support he is getting in Iowa, Paul said, “Last night, we had a few students come out at the university, like 1,300! I don’t go in there with wild promises.”
 
Paul stressed the importance of the early voting states candidates like him and told them their “single vote” is a hundred fold benefit compared to the vote in California.
 
“A state like this as well as New Hampshire allows opportunities for candidates like myself to come out and meet people and talk about the issues in a more deliberate fashion because there won't be very many states, once this thing gets rolling, once the first two primaries are done in Iowa and New Hampshire, once they're done, you know it is really, really a rat race.”
 
He said “you can’t run a campaign without the money,” and that for him, “fortunately, fundraising has been rather easy.”
 
“I've never been really good, I'm very enthusiastic about our message, but I've never been very good, and people who work with me in campaigns think I'm not very good at calling people up, like I don't do it and ask them 'Send me money. Send me money.' I always work on the assumption, if the message is worthwhile, they'll send some money."
 
Paul talked little about the economy and more about foreign policy, stressing his belief that bringing the troops home is the easiest way to cut spending.  He also warned the audience about upcoming war with Syria and Iran.
 
“We plan now to go into Syria and the plan, matter of fact, the covert war or war has already started in Iran. I mean, we have our CIA agents in there, we’re trying to overthrow that government, our drone plane just the other day was shot down. They captured some of our CIA agents. War has already started. I would say that, that does not help us. It furthering our bankruptcy. It makes us more in danger.”
 
Speaking about the president’s press conference yesterday where he told reporters “nothing is off the table,” with Iran, Paul said that really means a nuclear attack.
 
“Nothing off the table means military, bombing and actually nuclear first strikes. That’s what usually it means that we want to reserve and intimidate people and say nuclear first strikes, not off the table. You know what, they have taken one thing off the table and that’s diplomacy. And I would say in a civilized society, that should be the first thing which we should try. That’s what we are admonished to try as Christians, that we should talk to our enemies and try to deal with them.”
 
One woman asked Paul about a provision in the Defense Authorization Bill and the ability of the federal government to indefinitely detain American citizens.
 
“It goes against the First and Fourth Amendment -– that you don’t have to give a judge to write a search warrant and they have one of these sneak and peak searches in your house. If you tell anyone about it –- you can go to prison. So that’s an attack on the first amendment. And what she’s talking about is that it passed the senate overwhelmingly –- and that is -– the battlefield for terrorism which is everyplace and any place and you can pick people and arrest him.  But the battlefield specifically is everyone in this country too. If you could be associated with an organization that might have contributed and been involved with Muslims. You could be suspect and you could be thrown in jail. And it’s actually written that the president must try them in a military and they can be held forever. You can be hauled off to Guantanamo even if you are an American citizen.”
 
Paul called that provisions “very dangerous” and said “some people have compared this to the enabling act in Nazi Germany to say that literally that the way that the law should read that we should virtually give up our 5th amendment rights of the rule of law and our lives can be taken without the due process of law.”
 
He told the audience that if someone is against this provision, they will be labeled.

"It’s always couched in the tune of -– you don’t like this -– you don’t care about terrorism -– blame America! They twist it around and say that you’re not a patriot -– that's why they called it the Patriot Act -– because if you didn’t vote for it, you were unpatriotic.”
 
He also addressed a question about his support for Israel, saying he is for the sovereignty of the country which means no foreign aid.
 
“It actually helps Israel ... Israel’s neighbors get seven times as much as Israel gets, so it really doesn’t help Israel.  And you know, the other day somebody came to my defense and they explained Zionism, in an article, and they said the two basic principles of Zionism is independence and self reliance. And even this year, Netanyahu gave a speech on the House floor, you know, in Congress and said that we do not need American troops to defend ourselves, we can take care of ourselves.”

MILFORD, N.H. -- Mentioning a new major policy idea as almost an aside, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman quietly rolled out a new proposal last night, saying that he would push for a "citizen legislature" if elected president.

The proposal was a new iteration of an idea Huntsman has proposed before: a Constitutional amendment imposing 12-year term limits -- two terms in the Senate, or six in the House -- for members of Congress. The Huntsman campaign said this would eliminate the "professional Washington class" and be followed by a total ban on lobbying for four years after holding office and a lifetime ban on lobbying for members of Congress and cabinet members on "any issue where they had significant responsibility."

Huntsman also said that, in Washington, that he would require all members of Congress and cabinet officials to "publicly release all income for four years following their service."

"This nation has had enough in bad behavior. The people have been screwed. And I say it's time that we come up with a citizen legislature act. That's what I'm going to do," Huntsman told more than 120 voters at a town hall in Milford.

Huntsman proposed this "citizen legislature" amidst a retooled, leaner stump speech. He went onto justify the idea by criticizing long-time policy makers for succumbing to what he called an addiction to "incumbency" and a "trust deficit."

Huntsman's federal legislature proposal comes more than a month after rival Rick Perry rolled out his own version of a part-time legislature. The former ambassador to China did not provide any specifics on salaries and staffing. Perry has suggested cutting Congressional salaries and staffing in half.

"It gives people 12 years to get something done and then afterwards they can't capitalize on that influence by participating in the insider lobbying and crony capitalism that perpetuates in D.C.," Huntsman spokesman Tim Miller told NBC News.

The campaign explained Huntsman chose twelve years to allow for a potential of two Senate terms.

With less than five weeks until the New Hampshire primary, Huntsman dialed back his direct criticism of fellow candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich in the Granite State. Just a few hours earlier, Huntsman slammed both by name as the "panderer-in-chief" and "lobbyist-in-chief" respectively in Washington.

When asked if this quieting of direct attacks was indicative of his final-stretch strategy in a state in which he has staked his entire campaign, Huntsman said, "It's not about naming names, it's about putting forth ideas."

Huntsman is fundraising in Minneapolis today, and returns to New Hampshire tomorrow.

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- With mere weeks until New Hampshire's primary, Mitt Romney and the surging Newt Gingrich's campaigns are a study in contrast.

Romney, the former governor of neighboring Massachusetts and the longstanding favorite to win the nation's first primary, is a veteran operation whose structure is built squarely on experience, steadiness and New Hampshire roots.

Gingrich, whose campaign is in the midst of a renaissance since having been all but written off this summer, has the wind at his back. His Granite State operation is younger, entrepreneurial and free-wheeling.

With five weeks to go until the election, each campaign, which are separated by just a mile of light traffic on Manchester's main drag, share a single goal: buckle down, stay on top, survive and win.

Gingrich's campaign is trying to capitalize on newfound interest in his rebounding campaign, driven in part by an endorsement by the influential New Hampshire Union Leader. The campaignjust  added its first paid staffer at the end of October; Over the past few weeks, Gingrich has hired eight staff members, opened a headquarters, and fanned out across the state to capitalize on new interest in Newt Gingrich.

State director Andrew Hemingway is hiring their first set of field staffers, and brought on Carli Dimino, who will serve as their Hispanic outreach coordinator. Dimino drove to New Hampshire from Pennsylvania on a whim because she just wanted to help in any way she could, Hemingway said.

Dimino's hiring is indicative of a larger organizational spirit, Hemingway explains. With little direction from their national staff, Hemingway and his team are rapidly building a structure to drive voter turnout on the Jan. 10 primary day.

The challenge for Gingrich is to build on the new momentum, and not allow it to dissipate by the primary.

One mile down Elm Street, the Romney campaign is keenly aware of the ongoing search for a "Mitt alternative" and is taking nothing for granted. The memory of losing the lead ahead of the 2008 primary is still fresh in their memory. This weekend, Romney himself and his surrogate-in-chief Tim Pawlenty will launch a major push for supporters using their well-oiled grassroots operation that the campaign calls "second to none."

"We have an even stronger grassroots organization in 2011 than we did in 2007 and we've been able to retain the vast majority of the support we were able to build in 2007," spokesperson Ryan Williams told NBC News.

This Saturday at an event entitled "Earn It with Mitt," Romney's campaign says they will knock on 5,000 doors, make 12,000 volunteer phone calls and send 500 volunteers out across the state. According to Williams, Romney has visited all 10 counties and done 17 town hall-style meetings while his campaign has knocked on 26,000 doors and made 200,000 supporter calls to date.

Romney's advisers have the benefit of experience when it comes to running for president. Their 2012 campaign is leaner than the 2008 operation; Romney himself is deployed selectively, and he's focused the bulk of his effort on winning here, where he maintains a home. They hope an intense ground game will help stave off a reprise of 2008.

"We have focused on running a traditional grassroots New Hampshire campaign," said Romney's New Hampshire state director Jason McBride.
This Saturday, McBride explained, is "one of the many steps that Mitt Romney, the campaign, and its volunteers and supporters will take to earn the support of the voters in the run up to the New Hampshire primary."

Gingrich's campaign, by contrast, cites signs of raw enthusiasm in the former Speaker's candidacy as a sign of their rise.

"Stuff is just happening by themselves," Hemingway told NBC News. "You can't buy that. it doesn't matter what your organization -- that is the type of passion that's been tapped into.... It's kind of taken on a life of its own and it is kind of like a fire hose. But I don't think we are drinking from it, we are trying to point it in the right direction."

But there are growing pains, too, associated with the campaign's works to quickly become operational. Two weeks ago, Gingrich's campaign submitted a list of delegates scrawled in sloppy handwriting to the Secretary of State's office and opted not to fill out the maximum 20 delegate spots and 20 alternates. Although only 12 delegates are required by the Republican National Committee and Gingrich's campaign surpassed that, the campaign's style was interpreted as messy and disorganized.

In response, New Hampshire communications director Matt LeDuc sent out a rapid-fire statement yesterday. This morning, he followed up by sending supporters an unlikely list of direct email addresses for staffers in the state, including personal email contacts for a couple of their most senior advisors.

"We want to make sure you know how to reach us, anytime," LeDuc wrote. "So go ahead, email us. We're probably up working anyway."

Hemingway believes the bumps and bruises comes with the territory, and he is confident they will cement a base of supporters to help them fan out across the state that is critical to Romney's path to the nomination.

"This is what I tell my staff every day: we can talk about all the national polls that we want, but the reality is that we are 10 points behind, in the fourth quarter and we just have to put our heads down and win over the next person that we talk to," Hemingway said.

But winning against a well-organized Romney campaign machine in the midst of such a new surge will not be easy.

"Probably this time last month, the interest in the Gingrich campaign in this state was probably something akin to a drip that was coming out of a kitchen faucet. Now it's something that's akin to a firehose going off," said Rich Killion, an unaffiliated New Hampshire-based political consultant who previously supported Tim Pawlenty.

"Even with 40 days, we have a lifetime til this race gets off. Mitt Romney is strong but New Hampshire is always tough ground to close on. "[Voters] decide late and they decide late by habit. Newt Gingrich is being given an opportunity to audition to be the alternative," Killion said. "Others have failed at this becase of inability or inaction."