With the first two primaries out of the way, we are finally able to try and make some sense out of the race for the Republican Party nomination. 
In Iowa, Ted Cruz won a major victory on a slight margin with his 27 percent of the vote over Donald Trump’s 24 percent, but the real headline was Marco Rubio following very closely behind Trump at 23 percent. 
The next highest candidate was Carson with just 10 percent. Seemingly, this is a three way race between Donald Trump, the voice of Washington Distrust, Ted Cruz, the grass-roots evangelical candidate and Marco Rubio, the supposedly now decided GOP establishment candidate. Iowa has  set the stage and determined the cast for this race.
However, New Hampshire has completely changed this setup. Donald Trump won the primary as most had predicted, but the real story lies in how everybody fell in behind him. Ted Cruz did about as well as he expected to in a very secular New Hampshire. What has come as a surprise is how poorly Marco Rubio performed at the debate. 
The newly “chosen” front runner for the GOP establishment was constantly berated by Chris Christie in the debate Saturday night, which had a large impact on his numbers in New Hampshire. Rubio, following a strong showing in Iowa, fell to a disappointing fifth place in New Hampshire. Indeed, he fell behind fellow Floridian Jeb Bush, who once led the polls, and John Kasich, former Governor of Ohio. 
Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio all fell within 2 percent of one other in this most recent primary. With Kasich’s second place win, all four of these candidates will now continue their race into South Carolina. This close race gives Jeb Bush and John Kasich, who were struggling going into New Hampshire, both the reason and ability to push forward. This is something that neither Chris Christie nor Carly Fiorina are able to say. 
In South Carolina, it is reasonable to expect both Trump and Cruz to do very well while Kasich falls behind again. That much is clear in our very evangelical state. 
What is less clear is the struggle between Bush and Rubio. George Bush did very well during his primary seasons several years ago and will be campaigning for his brother from now until our primary in South Carolina. However, it is unclear if this campaigning will be enough to close the gap between Bush and Rubio, who is still polling a few points ahead of Jeb.
The name of the game for the remaining establishment candidates is money. While a strong result in Iowa gave Rubio the short lived title of establishment front runner, a very poor debate in New Hampshire put him back on the edge.
Though a good showing in New Hampshire was able to reestablish Bush as a threat, one wrong step for either candidate could spell disaster and the end of their campaign. 
Meanwhile, Kasich is just hoping to maintain his position until the primaries move out of March and toward more moderate territory.