Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

After Iowa - What's Next For GOP Candidates? - New Hampshire is the first primary in the nation in just one week, followed by the South Carolina primary on January 21 and Florida on January 31.

Romney will head to S. Carolina Thursday, enjoying a large polling advantage in New Hampshire and anticipating a finish in the top three in Iowa - Look to see Romney win Iowa.

Michele Bachmann, with a poor showing in Iowa, may be forced to drop out and file for reelection as Representative in Minnesota.

Ron Paul has no future in the Republican primaries, regardless of how well he does in Iowa. Rick Perry with a poor showing in Iowa, will also have to serious examine continuing his campaign. While, the Perry campaign has funding, they have no appeal with voters - he will be done after Florida.

A fourth or worse finish for Newt Gingrich will damage his campaign and Gingrich will have to hope for a good showing in S. Carolina.

Rick Santorum, will receive a bounce from Iowa, but not enough to bring the cash and organization fast enough to compete in New Hampshire, although, he may catch on in S. Carolina.

With his entire campaign effort to date focused on New Hampshire, Jon Huntsman will have a difficult time staying in after a poor showing in New Hampshire.

In spite of the "Anyone but Romney" effort, Mitt Romney remains on a path to become the Republican Party presidential nominee. Perhaps, as early as the end of this month.

An early Republican presidential nominee would make for a longer general election campaign. A plus for Republicans, who can then focus squarely on President Obama, instead of each other.

Stay tuned...

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Obama To Speak to Iowa Caucuses - tonight, at 8:15 PM ET, following the conclusion of the Iowa caucuses, the president will address Democratic caucus goers via televideo conference.

While, President Obama has no competition in the Iowa primary, it was Iowa, four years ago where Obama won to begin his path to the presidency.

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Obama To Give Speech on Economy - back, from a family holiday vacation in Hawaii, President Obama will travel to Cleveland, Ohio today to give a speech at a High School on the economy. TheHill.com has more here.

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Consumer Spending Expected To Stay Low in 2012 - economists are saying don't look to see consumer spending increase in 2012. This will contribute to sluggish growth for the year ahead. The NY Times has more here.

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DGA Raises 20 Million in 2011 - a record amount by the Democratic Governors Association, chaired by Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley. O'Malley has received criticism for the large contributions received by the DGA from companies doing business in Maryland. The Baltimore Sun has more here.

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Egypt Holds Last Round of Parliament Elections - for the lower House. The upper chamber elections have been moved up and will conclude by the end of next month. So far, Islamic groups have received the most Representatives in the voting since the toppling of the Mubarak regime. Reuters.com has more here.

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Taliban To Open Office in Qatar For Peace Talks - The militant group issued a statement they will open the office to conduct peace talks with The United States. No mention was made of the government of Afghanistan participating in the talks. The Washington Post has more here.

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