Winners and Losers Jan. 3: Santorum Shines, Bachman, Perry Falter

A daily look at the winners and losers on the road to the S.C. GOP Primary.

Iowa may not pick winners like South Carolina, but the results Tuesday night have propelled a longshot candidate to the top tier and all-but sealed the fate of a former frontrunner. 

Winner: Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Penn.) has seen his fortunes completely changed in the matter of weeks as the great migration of Iowa Caucus voters may have made the rounds, but settled on him. 

After working a tireless ground game in Iowa, the next challenge for Santorum will be to wrangle the necessary funding and support to remain competitive for the long haul. 

The message from Santorum voters in Iowa appeared to be "conservative values." Starting now, Santorum will have to begin to answer the electability argument. 

Loser: U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann bet heavily on Iowa. The campaign strategy has always been a show of strength there, followed by a strong win in South Carolina. Bachmann has said she'll go on to fight in the Palmetto State.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry more than doubled Bachmann's numbers in the caucus, but made a much stronger suggestion that this was his first and last primary season contest. Perry told supporters he was heading back to Texas to "determine whether there is a path forward."

South Carolina is a state that prides itself on picking winners, but it finds its winner from the contests in Iowa and New Hampshire. It would have to be a very convincing and unprecedented argument to convince Palmetto State voters to choose someone different.

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