We'll be reporting on all the results and all the speeches here on Slog tonight.
The best results for Democrats would be if Gingrich won by that 14-point lead put forth in the poll Goldy told you about this morning, if Ron Paul came in second ahead of Romney, and if Santorum bottomed out in the low single digits. That would shake the race up, draw Romney's inevitability into question, and force Santorum out of the race, leaving things between Romney, a single not-Romney candidate, and an unelectable wild card. I don't think that's going to happen tonight, but that's got to be what DNC people have been praying for all day long.
We'll have to watch how Gingrich frames the results. Thanks to the recent news that Santorum won Iowa, if Gingrich wins South Carolina, that means Romney has only won one state out of three. If Gingrich spins this right—and Thursday's debate proves that Gingrich can occasionally take great advantage of political opportunities—he could easily turn a win in South Carolina into a fighting chance in Florida.
What Romney needs to do tonight is to act human. No matter where he comes in in the results, a lot is going to depend on his speech. If he gives his standard mishmash of blandly delivered Obama-hate and fear-mongering, he's going to lose more momentum. Republicans will be more inclined to give him a pass on issues like his tax returns if he appears more lifelike.
And as for everyone else: Nothing's going to stop Ron Paul from running all the way to the convention, and short of a miracle, Rick Santorum's on the way out. It's only a matter of time, now; whether he drops out here, in Florida, or in some later state largely depends on how much money he's got left.