Republican voters' search for a nominee has been, all along, a "Waiting for Godot" drama. Santorum was the only candidate competing in Iowa who had not gotten his turn in the sunshine until the cold of winter ...If Iowa hands a win to Cruz and he finishes second in New Hampshire he's the front runner going into South Carolina.Months ago, Iowans chose Michele Bachmann only to discover she was weak on facts and had no chance of winning the contest. Next came Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who flubbed his debates. In their continuing search for Anybody But Romney, Iowa Republicans turned to Herman Cain, but then scandal hit. Next up was Newt Gingrich, who seemed to have everything they wanted. Gingrich did have everything, including -- as a Romney "hit-ad" put it -- "more baggage than the airlines."
Iowa voters then sampled Paul, a man that many decidedly feel is not a conservative, mostly because of his foreign policy. Everyone, including Gingrich, jumped on Paul, accusing him of being not sufficiently worried about a nuclear Iran. As a result, Iowans who want someone with strong conservative credentials fled to Rick Santorum, the only candidate left standing, but one they likely met at an event or two.
I think the process works in his favor.
Iowa's three tickets: Cruz, Walker and Rand.
New Hampshire's two: Jeb and one of those three.
South Carolina will sort the men from the boys, but you'd have to like Cruz's chances there.
Jeb Bush is going to stick around at least until the Florida primary in February or maybe the Texas primary in early March.
The key to stopping Bush would be to deny him any wins or close second place finishes before those two big primaries.