Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney waves to supporters at the Romney for President New Hampshire primary night rally at Southern New Hampshire University in Manchester, N.H., Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2012. Behind Romney are his sons Tagg and Craig and his wife Ann. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

Mitt Romney’s New Hampshire win sets up critical South Carolina primary

(theGRIO) MANCHESTER, New Hampshire - Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney easily wonthe New Hampshire primary Tuesday night, setting up a pivotal contest next week in South Carolina that could either seal the nomination for the GOP front-runner or give one of his rivals a much-needed jolt.

The Romney win here was much anticipated. But it sets up a wide-open race in South Carolina, a state that often chooses the eventual winner of the Republican Party’s nomination and has a bloc of conservatives who may be more hostile to Romney.

Here’s what to look for as the GOP campaign moves south.

1. Will the candidates speak in more detail to the unemployed?

Iowa and New Hampshire both have unemployment rates much lower than the national average (5.2 and 5.7 percent respectively, as of late last year). As a result, the candidates have focused much of their rhetoric on reducing the size of government and cutting spending, as if the primary were not taking place in a period of historic unemployment.

South Carolina, on the other hand, has a jobless rate of 9.9 percent, much higher than the national average of 8.5 percent. And while few of them are voting in the GOP primary, the state has a sizable black population, and African-American unemployment is nearly 16 percent nationally.

The candidates are likely to be pushed, by voters and in debates, to offer more details on how they would create jobs for the millions of Americans who are out of work.

2. Will Rep. Tim Scott or businessman Herman Cain endorse?

South Carolina’s influential Indian-American governor, Nikki Haley, has already endorsed Romney. But Scott, a freshman in Congress who is African-American and in the House GOPleadership, has not backed any candidate and could provide a temporary jolt to whoever he supports, particularly if it’s not Romney. Scott has strong credentials with Tea Party conservatives in the state.

Cain, who has promised an “unconventional endorsement” a few days before the primary, actually lead in polls in South Carolina before he suspended his campaign in December, and could move votes to whoever he backs.

3. Will the Tea Party or evangelical vote consolidate behind one candidate?

This is the biggest question about South Carolina and to some extent, the entire Republican race. Will former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, ex-Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum and Texas Gov. Rick Perry keep dividing up the votes of people who haven’t settled on Romney, easing the former Massachusetts governor’s path to victory? Or will conservatives get behind one of them and empower him as the Romney alternative?

Some prominent evangelical leaders are discussing some form of group endorsement. But will voters in South Carolina care? In New Hampshire, exit polls showed Romney won the plurality of votes of the most conservative and Tea Party Republicans.

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