Republican candidates head towards finish line

There were the usual semantics: comical gaffes, grievous accusations, gallant promises of reform and high-paying jobs, raucous debates, anti-Obama rabblerousing. Then there were the unusual and slightly absurd: 9-9-9 allegations, a desperate plea for Anderson Cooper's help, and another that I can't remember. Oops!

Geared up and eager to court a plethora of conservative groups, the candidates are in the heat of the state-to-state tour for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Aside from the more humorous moments of the 2012 G.O.P primary race, the fight for the nomination has been a rollercoaster of rapid rises and falls, promising but unsuccessful courtship in New Jersey, and lively debate. As top party donors and groups begin to unite behind their respective candidates, it's no secret that the Republican primary is in high gear and will not end until a presidential candidate emerges from the fray.

With Herman Cain and Michelle Bachmann officially out of the picture, six candidates are currently jostling for primary votes to be cast Jan. 21 in South Carolina: former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former House speaker Newt Gingrich, Texas U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, former Pa. Senator Rick Santorum, and Jon Huntsman, former governor of Utah and ambassador to China.

All eyes are on the third primary race after the end of the Iowa and New Hampshire caucuses. In Iowa, Mitt Romney squeaked to the finish with eight votes more than Santorum, who both managed to garner over 24% of the vote each. Ron Paul placed third with 21.4%, Gingrich with 13.3% and 10.3% for Perry.

After the close victory in Iowa, Romney was declared the winner in New Hampshire, receiving an expected but large 39.3% of the vote, with Rep. Paul at 22.9%, 16.9% for Huntsman and 9.4% each for Gingrich and Santorum. Perry finished with a meager .7%.

These votes translate into delegates, which a single candidate needs to carry 1,212 to win the nomination— a plurality (half plus one) of the total 2,422 delegates available. Iowa has 28 and New Hampshire 12, which are distributed based on the percentage of the votes won by the candidates. South Carolina has 25 delegates at stake, in a winner-take-all contest that makes it a key step towards winning the nomination.

As candidates focus intently on conservatives in South Carolina, the rest of the party watches. Since 1980, no candidate has won the presidential election without carrying the South Carolina primary.

Yet, anything can happen, and with historical firsts being made often in the volatile world of U.S. politics, no one can definitively call a winner. As candidates posture on the national stage in an attempt to capture the hearts of conservatives everywhere, the day rapidly approaches when one the Republican contenders will stand up to face Obama to determine who will be the future leader of the free world.