Balz: Romney vs. Gingrich in SC

Dan Balz writes politics for The Washington Post. He's probably liberal but mostly keeps his biases out of his analyses, which are often even-handed.

Here Balz does an election day column on the current status of Romney vs. Gingrich and the voters of South Carolina. He makes no predictions himself but cites a prediction by Senator Lindsey Graham (R) that "The wind's at Newt's back." I'd guess that represents a consensus view, which can nevertheless be wrong.

Since revised data shows Santorum winning Iowa and Romney won New Hampshire, if Gingrich wins South Carolina the first three states will have been won by three different candidates - a historical first. As Balz notes, it also would reflect the unsettled nature of the 2012 GOP contest.