Following a tour of Salem's Andover Coroporation Monday, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman told Patch he's more capable of winning the presidency than the current leader in N.H. primary polling.

"I'm saying I'm more electable than Mitt Romney," Huntsman said. "People want somebody that can go the distance against Barack Obama and actually win the election."

Huntsman cited a New York Times analysis of all the candidates said he was the only GOP candidate that could beat Obama in a general election matchup.

"If people want to beat Barack Obama they can choose a winning nominee and I want to be that nominee," said Huntsman, calling himself a "consistent conservative."

Andover Corporation and its president/founder Richard Bennett welcomed Huntsman and his campaign. The Commercial Drive company makes optical lenses used in a variety of capacities like the Hubble Telescope and biomedical and defense fields, according to facility manager Ron Watson. He said Bennett started the company in 1976.

Huntsman was impressed with the facility and how Bennett built the company from nothing.

"This is what makes America great and unique," Huntsman said, saying there needs to be more efforts for deregulation and allowing entrepreneurs like Bennett to grow ideas into business.

"We want to cut loose as a country and we want to grow," Huntsman said. "We want to get after it, just like the founders of this company were able to do. And we'll be able to do that under new leadership in this country."

Huntsman also reacted to the death of North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Il today.