If Romney wins South Carolina, other GOP hopefuls should reassess, Branstad says

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad said Tuesday that if Mitt Romney wins South Carolina's presidential primary Saturday, the others in the race should reconsider their situations.

Branstad spoke with the Quad-City Times editorial board this morning in advance of an appearance at the Bettendorf Rotary Club, where he's talking about his legislative agenda.

The governor spoke by telephone en route to the Quad-Cities because a winter snow delayed his trip to eastern Iowa.

Romney won the Iowa caucuses two weeks ago and the New Hampshire primary last week. And Branstad noted that South Carolina is a particular challenge for the former Massachusetts governor, where voters are more socially conservative.

A win would push his candidacy significantly forward, he said.

“It's a very socially conservative state, so if he wins in South Carolina, I think he'll have a lot of momentum, and I think at that point a lot of the other candidates would probably we wise to at least reassess their situation,” he said.

A handful of candidates - former Sen. Rick Santorum, Texas Gov. Rick Perry and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich - are seeking to make the case they're the conservative alternative to Romney. But some conservatives, and the candidates, too, have expressed concerns they're splitting those votes.

Branstad, though, didn't think a drawn-out primary fight would be damaging to the eventual nominee. He said that then-Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton had a lengthy primary fight in 2008.

The governor, meanwhile, said he didn't think the Iowa caucuses would be damaged even if a final review of the vote tally from two weeks ago reveals somebody other than Romney won.

After a see-saw battle caucus night, and into the early hours of Jan. 4, the state GOP reported that Romney won by eight votes. Since then, questions have been raised about the final tally.

State party leaders say their review should be completed by the end of the week.

“I think the party did a very good job under the circumstances. But when you have something that close, of a matter of just a few votes, obviously that could change hands,” Branstad said. “Even in a primary election, you still have questions.”

Primaries are run by the Secretary of State and county auditors, while the caucuses are overseen by the state political parties.