You think you know a guy after 100-plus visits. But Jon Huntsman pulled a few more surprises from his campaign trail napsack during a stop at Norton's Classic Cafe Monday night.

Fact: He dropped out of high school to join a rock band, an anecdote shared by event organizer Jennifer Horn as she introduced Huntsman to the standing-room only crowd, wedged into diner booths and rows of folding chairs inside the intimate downtown eatery.

Fact: He's great friends with Teddy Roosevelt IV, great-grandson of the president by the same name, a New Yorker and former Navy Seal who spent many happy years as a kid fishing in New Hampshire (and not catching any fish), along for the ride, just to endorse Huntsman as the best man for the job of U.S. President.

Surprises aside, Huntsman was all business, looking relaxed as he summed up his dedication to campaigning in the Granite State, intially, by saying he was starting to talk with a New England accent, and eat lobster rolls for all three meals.

Later on, he summarized his motives quite succinctly: "I want your vote," Huntsman said.

He appeared at what was the fourth in a series of open forums organized by Horn's We the People Freedom Forum, events which give voters a chance to ask candid questions of each candidate.

Attendees were seated in diner booths shaped like old cadilacs, sharing space in many cases with people they didn't already know. But in making small talk before the event, Irene Clasby of Nashua mentioned she's still deciding who to vote for in the January 10 New Hampshire Primary.

"I really prefer to hear them speak in person, rather than in short clips on television. I'm still open minded," Clasby said. "But I'm hoping for an intelligent person who can listen to the advice of others."

Jack Balcom of Merrimack said he's almost settled on Huntsman.

"I saw him at Merrimack High School, when he spoke to the Chinese exchange students. Did you know he's fluent in Mandarin? They said he didn't even have an accent," said Balcom.

Balcom also said he's not swayed by popular opinion polling, which currently ranks Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich as the top two candidates to beat.

"I like to pick by my own standards. After two presidents I haven't been impressed with, I feel he Huntsman could put this country back on the right road," Balcom said.

Rick Ouellette said he arrived solidly backing Huntsman for president.

"I like his foreign policy experience. He's a smart man who has a presidential presence."

June Carlson and Katherine Jones were there representing ServeNext.org, a non-profit organization that advocates for AmeriCorps, a government-funded service program that's currently in jeopardy of losing its funding.

"We need a president who supports national service because AmeriCorps is on the chopping block," Carlson said. "I hope to ask him where he stands."

In fact, Carlson got to throw out the first question, and was satisfied when Huntsman said he believed "a clarion call to young people from the President to support the United States through service is the most important thing we could be doing."

During the course of the hour-long event, Huntsman fielded several other direct questions, such as: "How big a threat is China?" and "Why should we vote for you over Mitt Romney?"

On the question of China, Huntsman said that while that country is a growing power, it is one that spends about seven times less on national defense than the U.S. – $90 billion, compared to $650 billion spent by the United States.

"They spend more on domestic security, keeping an eye on people inside China than outside. So that should tell you a whole lot about what you need to know about China," Huntsman said.

"But should we be on them with respect to trade when they violate their commitments? Absolutely, we should," Huntsman said. "But shouldn't we also be forging a relationship that speaks to the totality of the U.S.-China relationship, which is the largest and most complicated relationship in the world today?"

"You can't expect in today's world to slap a tariff on them for something without them slapping a tariff on us and creating a trade war, which is what some people are talking about. It's large, it's complicated, it's sensitive," Huntsman said.

On the Romney question, Huntsman said he's running on his record, and voters need only compare his record with the records of his opponents.

"The diferentiating factor is who understands this complex and confusing world we live in?" Huntsman said.

Afterwards, as people filed out of the diner, John and Jacklyn Capurso of Nasha lingered to talk about where they stand in the presidential selection process.

"Well, I worked for Romney as a Massachusetts state employee, so I won't be voting for him. He cleaned things up financially, but he did nothing to get rid of the cronyism, or graft and corruption. And I don't like Herman Cain; he doesn't have the gravitas to be president. Newt, I feel, is intelligent, but too far down the rabbit hole of political and corporate influence. Perry seems like an intelligent guy, but he has trouble in front of a crowd. If you're going to be president, you have to hold that bully pulpit," Capurso said.

And Ron Paul?

Capurso just laughed a little.

"Of all of them, Huntsman is the most rational and solid. He had me, until he said he supports the Ryan Plan. It's too rigid," Capurso said. "I still like him best."