NASHUA, N.H. — Representative Ron Paul made his first presidential campaign appearance Friday at the rather leisurely hour of 2 p.m. — his first stop in New Hampshire since finishing third at the Iowa caucuses three days before.

Other Republican candidates have, combined, logged dozens of campaign events in this state since leaving Iowa on Wednesday, fighting for a respectable finish in the top three.

New polls showed that Mitt Romney appeared to be in an overwhelmingly strong position to win the primary on Tuesday. He had the support of 40 percent of likely voters, according to the latest 7 News/Suffolk University tracking poll. But second place is still in play: Mr. Paul had 17 percent, followed by Rick Santorum at 11 percent, Newt Gingrich at 9 percent, and Jon M. Huntsman Jr. at 8 percent.

Mr. Paul had canceled one of his handful of events scheduled for this week, at the College Convention 2012 held by New England College, an important demographic audience for him. At the Iowa caucuses, Mr. Paul won the votes of roughly half of the college students and other adults under 24.