The next phase of the GOP race for the White House has started as the candidates now move from New England to the South, with Mitt Romney still leading the way on the Republican side and his opponents still trying to figure out a way to stop him.
The story line is much like that of four years ago, when John McCain took momentum from a big win into the Palmetto State for a showdown with more conservative challengers led by Mike Huckabee, the winner of the Iowa Caucus.
This time, Romney also faces a GOP field that could be divided in South Carolina, which may ultimately allow him to prevail. Instead of just four other challengers here in New Hampshire, there are five with the return of Rick Perry.
Remember the basic history of South Carolina - the candidate who wins the Republican Primary goes on to win the GOP nomination. Period.
One other intersting thing right now is that Talk Radio is not on board with the attacks on Romney centering on his time at Bain Capital, and Ron Paul has also made clear that he's not going to pursue the same line of attacks.
As I was driving around New Hampshire yesterday, there were talkers big (Limbaugh and Hannity) and small (names I didn'tknow) who were giving Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry the back of the hand about his line of attack against the GOP frontrunner - that kind of sentiment should not be ignored.
If the talk radio community isn't on board with the Bain attacks, then that certainly undermines one major source of anti-Romney rhetoric.
Gingrich, Perry, Santorum and Paul will have two chances to attack Romney in person, as there are two debates left before the South Carolina Primary - one in Myrtle Beach on Monday and one in Charleston on the Thursday before the Palmetto vote.
The polls have Romney in the lead in South Carolina; let's wait a few days and see what they say by the end of the week; that should give us a good clue as to whether or not the Gingrich-led attacks can work or not.
The way is clear for Romney in South Carolina over the next 10 days.
South Carolina is always a fun race; I can't wait to get there.
