GOP Campaign Heads to South Carolina

From Byron York, at Washington Examiner, "Attacks on Romney now shift to South Carolina."

And at Telegraph UK, "US election 2012: Mitt Romney hopes support 'carries on to South Carolina'":

Meeting voters at a polling station in Manchester, the front-runner in the New Hampshire primary Mitt Romney said he expects "good support around the country," as he moves to to take a step closer to the Republican presidential nomination.

The former governor of neighbouring Massachusetts, who carries a sizeable lead in polls, was campaigning at the same polling station visited earlier by Republican candidate New Gingrich.

As supporters chanted, "Go Mitt Go," Mr Romney is fighting to ride out last-minute attacks labelling him a corporate raider who enjoyed firing workers.

"You see the exciting people behind me talking about winning this one and hopefully that kind of spirit carries on to South Carolina next," he said.

Mr Romney, 63, would be the first Republican who is not an incumbent president to win the first two early voting states, after his slim eight-vote victory over former Pennsylvania Senator Santorum a week ago in the Iowa caucuses.

A more resounding win would provide momentum going into South Carolina on January 21 and Florida on January 31.

Also, at Wall Street Journal, "Conservatives Target South Carolina":

FLORENCE, S.C.—With the New Hampshire primary behind them, conservative challengers for the Republican presidential nomination are descending on South Carolina, which they see as their best chance to halt lead candidate Mitt Romney's momentum.

South Carolina, the third major vote of the primary season, has picked the eventual GOP nominee in every primary since 1980. It also has a reputation for gloves-off campaigning, as faltering candidates target the front-runner.

Mr. Romney holds the lead in polls here, but he faces a much tougher race than he did in New Hampshire. He will have to win over a majority of GOP voters who are sympathetic to the tea-party cause and who strongly oppose the health-care plan he championed in Massachusetts. He also will have to overcome mistrust among evangelicals who are skeptical of his positions on abortion and gay marriage, and view his Mormon faith with suspicion.

Such doubts about Mr. Romney—who finished fourth in the 2008 primary here—are giving hope to his opponents. "In South Carolina, Mitt Romney seems to be everybody's second choice," said Danielle Vinson, chair of the political-science department at Furman University in Greenville. It's "very feasible" that Mr. Romney could be upset by a conservative on Jan. 21, she said, but only if one can emerge from the pack in coming days.

My sense is that Romney's momentum is nearly insurmountable by now --- and it's difficult to see a new frontrunner emerging at this point. Who's it going to be? Ron Paul? He's been running in the top three so far, but folks keep saying there's no way he'll win the nomination. And New Gingrich? The former Speaker was hovering around 10 percent with about half the precincts counted in New Hampshire last night? Will the much-heralded huge flow of Super PAC money effectively resuscitate his campaign? We'll see, but I'm not holding my breath. Romney leads Gingrich in both South Carolina and Florida. Gingrich can hang on if he places second in both states, but anything less than that will mean a failure to take the lead or runner-up spot in any of the first four contests of the year. I can't imagine his big money backers bankrolling a shaky campaign much longer than that. Besides, as Gallup reported yesterday, "Mitt Romney is the now the only candidate that a majority of conservative and moderate/liberal Republicans nationwide see as an acceptable GOP nominee for president."

So, on to South Carolina.

 PREVIOUSLY: "Mitt Romney Wins New Hampshire Primary."