I'm glad you brought this up. On the surface, it would appear that what you're saying is in fact a blow against NH. But, let us rewind the clock back to the primary season shall we..
On one hand, NH is the 1st in the nation primary where each isle had 10 candidates in the race, thus diluting the support that some candidates could've had. The other states you mentioned were later in the primary season when other candidates had dropped out making it easier for RP to achieve higher totals and some of them are caucus states which are totally different from primary states. Leading into the NH primary, Fox News hosted a debate which Ron Paul wasn't even allowed into, the only debate he wasn't allowed in. And the night before the primary, our ole boy Tucker Carlson threw Ron on the bbq when he brought up the so-called racist writings in one of Ron's past newsletters. Add all that to the fact that Ron's official campaign was airing ridiculous commercials about not allowing for student visas if someone was from the Middle East. Whether outright ridiculous or completely ignorant about their tact, this was not an issue to highlight amongst NH voters. We have no immigration problem here nor are the conservatives anti-Arab. The main issues that should have been highlighted on TV were Ron's stance on gun rights, repealing the income tax and decreasing federal spending. We have virtually no restrictions on guns here nor do we have a state income tax.. Soooo, those might be the main issues that should've been focused on.
Plus, he should've had more campaign stops in NH as he had far less than McCain and Romney. It seems that the official campaign wasn't running to win it.
If there was another scenario like this going into 2012, we should be better postured to do a lot better if the campaign is more prepared. Right off the bat, there should be millions poured into NH via advertising and the ground troops will drill the message home from there. Plus, we've had lots of early movers since '07 and more to come before '11 (FSP). This is another added benefit for those that don't like their present state to move here and help gear up for the next primary.