Net Results

Ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney turned to the state where he was born and where his late father George Romney was governor to steady his stumbling campaign after season-opening losses in Iowa and New Hampshire... and he got what he needed.

Every contest in this jumbled Republican campaign seems to produce a new candidate teetering on the brink. It was Romney last week, after he lost to John McCain in New Hampshire. Now McCain will be seen as the candidate having much to prove in the key upcoming contests in Nevada and South Carolina (this Saturday) and Florida on Jan. 29 (two weeks from today).

Although McCain's camp can spin that the Arizona senator made it close on Romney's (original) home turf, he did not do nearly as well as he did in winning the state over George W. Bush in the 2000 GOP presidential campaign. And he fell short in a state where independents can vote in the Republican primary, and did heavily for the senator eight years ago. Now the primary schedule turns mainly to states where GOP participation is limited to registered Republicans, and where he will be challenged to prove he can win among party base voters -- including many who in the past have expressed frustration with McCain's effort to position himself as a maverick Republican.

So here's what is at stake in South Carolina Saturday:

Romney: Must prove he can win somewhere besides Michigan.

McCain: Must prove he can compete in a Republican-only contest.

Mike Huckabee: The former Arkansas governor, who finished third in Michigan with support largely from evangelical Christians concentrated in the western part of the state, must battle Romney for the conservative mantle, and ex-Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson for primacy as the candidate of the South.

Thompson: A total non-factor so far, the Southern-drawling Thompson needs a big showing in South Carolina to prove that he can at least gain footing as a strong regional candidate.

Rudy Giuliani: Must stay in Florida and hope against hope that his decision to focus on the slew of upcoming big state primaries survives the pitiful vote shares he has been receiving in the early voting states.

Ron Paul: After another apparent single-digit showing in Michigan, it's time for the Texas libertarian's fervent core followers to prove that there's any mass behind his movement.