Pignanelli: In the 2000 South Carolina GOP primary, candidate George Bush's campaign accused McCain of fathering an illegitimate child with a Bengali mother and distributed a family photo of a young girl with darker skin. The fact is McCain and his wife adopted this impoverished orphan. Notwithstanding the despicable antic, McCain worked hard for Bush's re-election. Romney never sank this low and McCain will forgive his lesser transgressions.

Webb: McCain and Romney have long moved past the primary, although the opposition will certainly exploit their criticism of each other. The bigger calculation for Romney is whether it makes sense to jump aboard what could be a sinking ship. As the No. 2 guy on a possibly losing team, can he emerge from the rubble carrying the party's banner into 2012?

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Republican LaVarr Webb is a political consultant and lobbyist. Previously he was policy deputy to Gov. Mike Leavitt and a Deseret News managing editor. E-mail: lwebb@exoro.com. Democrat Frank Pignanelli is a Salt Lake attorney, lobbyist and political adviser. Pignanelli served 10 years in the Utah House of Representatives, six years as House minority leader. His spouse, D'Arcy Dixon Pignanelli, is a Utah state tax commissioner. E-mail: frankp@xmission.com.