COLUMBIA, S.C.—You can call it the make-or-break state. Or maybe, in honor of one recent winner there, the decider.
Ever since 1980, when South Carolina moved its Republican presidential primary toward the front of the party’s calendar, the state has never failed to pick the eventual GOP nominee. State Republicans say they expect nothing less this year—even if the putative front-runner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, has signaled that he may downplay the state.
Ever since 1980, when South Carolina moved its Republican presidential primary toward the front of the party’s calendar, the state has never failed to pick the eventual GOP nominee. State Republicans say they expect nothing less this year—even if the putative front-runner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, has signaled that he may downplay the state.