Manchester Union Leader publisher Joe McQuaid warns New Hampshire voters about the dwindling chances to stop the Mitt Romney juggernaut:

The lesson from Iowa? Conservative Republicans and like-minded independents in New Hampshire and elsewhere had better rally around their one [of their] strongest candidates or face the very real prospect of having Barack Obama walk all over former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.

Romney, having vastly outspent his rivals, managed to win six fewer votes in Iowa this time than he did four years ago. He was virtually tied by Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, gained less than a quarter of the vote, and yet declared “victory.”

The last squishy-moderate Republican to come to New Hampshire claiming to have the “Big Mo” (for momentum) from Iowa was George H.W. Bush. He and his “mainstream” supporters made fun of Ronald Reagan as too old and too conservative.

Reagan beat Bush. But he might have lost had New Hampshire conservatives not coalesced around him instead of splitting their support among several candidates.

This time, they need to get behind former House Speaker Newt Gingrich.