As the primary season continues, I wanted to review two of my earlier posts:

• I opined that Romney would place only a “strong second” in Iowa despite his increased effort in the state, a prediction that just barely came to pass. I admit that his strength in the state surprised me.

  I would venture that I was on the mark when I said that Romney would wish “he had the extra money he’s spending [in Iowa] to devote to South Carolina, Florida, and other races down the line.” On the flip side, Romney’s marginal dollar spent does not appear to be producing many votes for him — the debates, rather than paid media, seem to be driving this race. So perhaps Romney lacks not for cash, but for charisma.

• Second, when I wrote that a new candidate could enter the field in late March, I did not realize at all that many state primaries do not include a write-in option. I know South Carolina and Virginia do not afford GOP voters this basic right, but I’m not sure the write-in status of the other states. Since the filing deadlines will be well-passed by late March, this “feature” of the process would be a significant hurdle to the GOP finding a white knight.