I see my friend the esteemed Monsieur Kristol is fighting his way through the deep snow of Iowa like the despised usurper Bonaparte slinking back from Moscow. Though we agree that even if Mitt Romney wins, he’ll get sniffs and snark from much of the mainstream media pack. No matter what the flavor of the various attacks coming in the likely Romney versus McCain duel in New Hampshire, the big challenge for John McCain lies in Michigan, which follows the NH primary by 7 days. McCain has a history there–he won in 2000–and with history comes expectations. But Romney has resources and plenty of personal Michigan history as well. It is likely the Romney vs. McCain showdown will be a three part affair; NH, then Michigan, then S.C. A win in NH will give McCain priceless momentum, but he has to start looking and planning down the calendar to exploit his success. Of course a still not impossible Huckabee win in Iowa would change much of this. On the Democratic side, I am sticking with my year long and until last month rather lonely prediction: Obama wins Iowa.
