Just as Romney will basically concede Iowa without saying so, the more Conservative candidates will concede NH to Romney or whoever fills the RINO vacuum instead of him.
It is South Carolina, not NH, that has traditionally determined the winner. McCain just credits NH because it resuscitated him twice; it won't be reviving any half-dead RINOs this time around because Romney enters as the odds-on favorite to be the nominee. The pivotal point of the 2012 GOP race will be SC, the first primary state that will really be in question.
McCain's day has passed; and though he may not endorse Palin (or anyone at all in the primaries), you can bet you bottom dollar he'll only be endorsing someone who endorsed him during his run.
Well Gov. Palin may have three winner in the three primary states mentioned. It would put those three in one h*ll of a position if they didn’t help Gov. Palin.
If you break it down even more I think Gov. Palin will have two allies in Iowa, one in NH and two in SC. That is a pretty good foundation to work from.
The other thing is the primary format may be different this time around with propotional voting for the first few states. Then they head West and Gov. Palin is rather strong out there.
“The pivotal point of the 2012 GOP race will be SC, the first primary state that will really be in question.”
Which is but another reason I’d love to see DeMint toss his hat in. He’d be entirely fresh and has had a strong voice of leadership in the Senate—one without trepidation.
In some ways, he might be more useful in the Senate. That said, he’s really got the leadership qualities and the vision we’d be after.