Republican presidential candidate John Kasich speaks to campaign workers and volunteers prior to their door to door campaign effort on February 6, 2016 outside his New Hampshire campaign headquarters in Manchester, New Hampshire. Kasich is campaigning in the lead up to the The New Hampshire primary, February 9.Matthew Cavanaugh/Getty Images
And then there were only nine.
Once, not so long ago last summer, a chaotic field of 17 Republicans jostled for advantage as they sought to win the party's presidential nomination.
The twin scythes of voter rejection and looming bankruptcy have carved a new reality.
Iowa culled three more Republicans: Senator Paul Rand, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and former Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum. The latter two had both won in Iowa before fading in 2008 and 2012. This year, both faded faster and earlier. Five others failed to even make it to 2016.
New Hampshire seems likely to skewer three more, at least. Ben Carson, the only African-American, placed a distant fourth in Iowa where his support was supposed to be strongest. Top campaign aides have quit, he fired dozens more staffers this week for lack of money and his long-shot bid for the Republican nomination is in free fall. Barring an unexpected success in New Hampshire, Mr. Carson's quixotic quest seems close to an end.
The same fate faces the only woman in the Republican race, Carly Fiorina, the former Hewlett-Packard chief executive whose fierce attacks on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton constantly make the point that Ms. Fiorina was the better woman to be commander-in-chief. But after a brief rise in the polls last fall, Ms. Fiorina has been mired among the also-rans and New Hampshire could be the end.
And Jim Gilmore, the former Virginia governor, who only received 12 votes in Iowa, more than 100 fewer than 'Other' is still officially in the race although the reasons remain unclear.
"I don't feel bad getting 12 votes because I wasn't trying to get 12 votes," Mr. Gilmore tweeted after the Iowa count, adding he was: "Last long-shot candidate standing."
Whether or not he officially quits after New Hampshire, his campaign has been over for months.
New Hampshire seems likely also to determine the fate of at least one, and possibly, several of the centrists who largely ignored Iowa with its strong evangelical demographics to focus instead on the more secular, small-c conservative New England state where independents can choose whether to vote in the Democratic or Republican primaries. Three Republican current and former governors: Jeb Bush of Florida, John Kasich of Ohio and Chris Christie of New Jersey all need to finish as winners, or close to the winners in New Hampshire, or their campaigns may also be over. Mr. Kasich and Mr. Christie, with smaller war chests, are banking especially on strong showings in New Hampshire.
The last week has been tough on also-rans. After cruelly disappointing results in Iowa, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul, put an end to his Libertarian campaign. Although he garnered more support than former Florida governor Jeb Bush or Ohio Governor John Kasich, Mr. Rand's departure signalled that the winnowing now extends beyond the no-hopers and the broke.
"Brush-fires of Liberty were ignited, and those will carry on, as will I," Mr. Paul said has he exited. But pragmatism prevailed. He faces a tough fight for a second term this fall and was apparently unwilling to risk the Senate seat any further by prolonging his time and effort pursuing the presidency.
"Elections are about choices and it's time to suspend my campaign," said Mr. Huckabee, a Baptist minister who won the Iowa caucuses eight years ago. Like Bill Clinton, Mr. Huckabee was born in Hope, Ark., but his folky style and deeply-held Christian values didn't attract much support this year.
Mr. Santorum, who won Iowa four years ago, announced he was backing Florida Senator Marco Rubio in his end-of-bid speech. When asked which of Mr. Rubio's Senate accomplishments he most admired, Mr. Santorum was stumped and couldn't name any.
Some of the earlier candidates to quit have gone quietly, some have taken a parting shot at those who remain.
None have been as honest, or as pithy, as former Oklahoma senator Fred Harris, who ended his presidential run 40 years ago with this memorable line: "We didn't do well enough to call it victory and we didn't do so poorly as to call it defeat, … we didn't know what to call it, so we just decided to call it quits."
In this election cycle, some of those who called it quits were gone so long ago that it's hard to remember they were even in the race. Texas Governor Rick Perry gave up last Sept. 11, after a campaign that fizzled even more quickly than his 2012 run. He was quickly followed by Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, once a darling of the right for union-busting. But Mr. Walker's campaign quickly went broke and he didn't feel like borrowing millions. Instead Mr. Walker said he was leading by quitting and encouraged others to follow.
Republicans need "a positive, conservative alternative to the current front-runner," was his parting shot at New York billionaire Donald Trump.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal was next to go in November. "This is not my time," he said, blaming a lack of money after he had spent months tramping around Iowa.
North Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, whose long experience in foreign affairs, frequent visits to the Middle East and service in military made him a respected, if hawkish, voice about fighting Islamic State, scrapped his campaign just before Christmas. His call for ground troops was mostly ignored. "The only way you can destroy the caliphate is with a ground component," Sen. Graham said.
The last of those who didn't even make it to election year before quitting was former three-time New York governor George Pataki. His long-shot effort never attracted any money or much attention. He too left with a parting shot at Mr. Trump, playing on the billionaire's slogan to call for someone capable of uniting not dividing the country "if we are truly going to make America great again."