After a grueling New Hampshire debate schedule, two candidates hightailed it to the Palmetto State. Both need the help.
Winner: Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney won't be going anywhere until he has secured a wide margin in the Granite State. And, yet another poll released Sunday gives the top spot in South Carolina to the front runner.
Romney came prepared for a fight to the ABC/Yahoo debate on Saturday night, only to find his fellow candidates unwilling to spar. He was so anxious, he lobbed an anxious attack at former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman just because.
Come Sunday morning, there was a bit more fight in Romney's rivals, but not enough to offer significant wounds toward his likely win in S.C.
Take a look at the daily winners and losers since Iowa.
Loser: Former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) performed well in the debates, but has found combative voters nearly everywhere he has travelled in New Hampshire.
After a week of headlines that focused on arguments with moderates up north, Santorum finally made it to welcoming crowds in South Carolina's conservative Upstate.
But what took him so long? The candidate has focused much time in New Hampshire in hopes of make Mitt Romney's inevitable victory a little less victorious.
That time could have been put to good use putting time in on the ground in South Carolina, where Romney has also found a way to pull ahead of the pack and could end up with a triple crown.