I cannot see any boomlet for RS in NH following 2nd place in IA. NH voters are very savvy and want to throw their support to one of the top competitors to effect the first-place outcome. I put the RS ceiling at 7%.
People still see MITT as a threat and are motivated by it. If MITT drops out (after FLA?), the dynamics will change and it will be Newt vs. somebody.
SO I agree with some of your thoughts. For me, it is just that there are only 4 campaigns in NH: mitt, newt, rpaul, huntsman.
If forced to choose between those four, I would take Huntsman. It's difficult to stomach his ties to the Obama State Department, but his tenure as Utah Governor was fairly solid.