It doesn’t look like Mitt Romney could lose New Hampshire, but then again, he can’t really win it either.

Even a 20-point landslide by Romney in New Hampshire would be instantly discounted as merely meeting expectations for the former governor of the neighboring state who keeps a summer home there.

The only way Romney could make news in New Hampshire would be if he ends up in a squeaker. Romney, having skated to a narrow victory in Iowa, would then be seen as hugely vulnerable. The stakes are high, but the risks of such an embarrassment look low.

For Iowa runner up, former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, though, both the stakes and the risks are very high. Little-known Santorum needs a boost in New Hampshire to establish himself as the “Not Romney” in the race.

But just as he will be competing with well-known southerners Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry (who opted to reassess his reassessment of his candidacy and press on) for votes in South Carolina, Santorum must deal with former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and Texas Rep. Ron Paul in New Hampshire...