Before Texas Governor Rick Perry entered the Republican Presidential primary in August, the nomination of Mitt Romney seemed a foregone conclusion. Even though Perry's conservative candidacy sputtered and stalled out in the fall as his poor debate performances and embarrassing gaffes sent supporters searching for a more palatable alternative, his early surge proved Romney mortal at a key juncture in the GOP race. Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich took up Perry's anybody-but-Mitt mantle in turn, but the war chest Perry amassed during his brief rise could still factor in the outcome of early primary contests; he's running an aggressive ad campaign appealing to social conservatives in Iowa, and the outcome of the nation's first caucuses are anybody's guess.