It’s strange how politics works. Not so long ago, Romney was trying to destroy Rick Perry. Now he has to hope that Perry has enough gas left in the tank, with his increasingly frank religious appeal to fellow evangelicals, to help chip away at Gingrich’s lead in Iowa. It’s hard to see Romney stopping Gingrich in that state by himself. He’ll need an assist from others and need things to break the right way so he either ekes out a win or Ron Paul or someone else does. If Gingrich wins Iowa, he’ll be set up nicely in South Carolina. And if he wins in South Carolina, he’ll be set up nicely in Florida. If he wins Florida, he could have the nomination all but wrapped up by the end of January.