He's far back in the polls but former China ambassador Jon Huntsman is still swinging in a state where frontrunner Mitt Romney is expected to dominate.

Romney has spent the past two days in South Carolina, which holds the primary right after New Hampshire's tilt on Tuesday.

Since we like the warm weather south of the Mason-Dixon, we'll let the a folks at Politico elaborate:

" 'If you’re in South Carolina with days to go before the New Hampshire primary, that pretty much suggests you think you have it wrapped up. And that would be taking the voters here for granted,' " he said at his 157th event in the Granite State, where he’s bet his campaign. 'They want it to be earned, and to earn the vote here you can’t do it from Charleston. You’ve got to do it from Newport. And that’s why we’re here tonight.' "

"But Huntsman won’t be an absent presence in South Carolina, either, though not directly from his campaign — the pro-Huntsman Our Destiny PAC has bought airtime in the Palmetto State to run a positive spot touting the candidate. It will be the first pro-Huntsman ad on TV outside the Granite State."

Huntsman also was kind enough to send a couple of his daughters to visit us today. Look for video later at www.thestate.com/primary.

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