A NEW LOOK AT THE SOUTH CAROLINA PRIMARY. The South Carolina primary, still more than three weeks away, is shaping up to be a critical moment in the lopsided Republican presidential race. Former President Donald Trump has already won Iowa and New Hampshire by double digits, which in the past has meant the contest is pretty much over. But Nikki Haley, who of course is a former South Carolina governor, is Trump’s last challenger in the race. She does not predict that she will win her home state but says her goal is to improve her performance from Iowa to New Hampshire to South Carolina. In Iowa, with multiple candidates in the race, Haley won 19% of the vote, and in New Hampshire, one-on-one against Trump, she won 43%. So in South Carolina, in another one-on-one contest with Trump, she defines success as scoring more than 43%.

There has been a real shortage of polls from South Carolina lately, but now we have, from the Washington Post and Monmouth University, the first survey of the state to be taken after both Iowa and New Hampshire. The new poll finds Trump far ahead, 58% to Haley’s 32%.