Washington ( CNN ) Several post-Romney 2016 dynamics on the GOP side , plus two big debates with complications for congressional Republicans filled our Super Bowl Sunday trip around the `` Inside Politics '' table . 1 . MITT BOWS OUT , AND JEB MOVES IN . With Mitt Romney now officially out of the 2016 GOP nomination chase , New Hampshire becomes a more wide-open race , and the Jeb Bush camp is hoping to make fast inroads . Jonathan Martin of The New York Times notes with a crowded field , Iowa 's vote likely will be splintered and the state is known for its strong evangelical base . South Carolina , stop three on the calendar , could be influenced by the possible candidacy of home state senator Lindsey Graham . Romney would have been the early New Hampshire favorite . But now ? `` I 'm told that immediately after Mitt made his move on Friday , the Jeb folks started to figure out how they can get two key operatives in that state , Jim Merrill and Tom Rath , both old New Hampshire pros , both of whom were Mitt guys who had stayed loyal to Mitt but are now free agency , '' said Martin . 2 . COMING SOON : A PARADE OF LONGER THAN LONG SHOTS . Watch New Hampshire over the next couple weeks and you might come to the conclusion it is easier to count the Republicans NOT considering a 2016 presidential run . On tap to visit soon : former GOP Govs . George Pataki of New York , Jim Gilmore of Virginia and Bob Ehrlich of Maryland . Also , former U.N . Ambassador John Bolton and former high tech CEO Carly Fiorina have New Hampshire travel plans . All of them are longer than long shots , should they run . But former Texas Gov . Rick Perry is due back , and New Jersey Gov . Chris Christie , too . Team Christie views New Hampshire as critical -- and hopes the lack of a competitive Democratic race could help his case . In New Hampshire , independents can vote in either primary , and Team Christie thinks more of them might be inclined to cast their votes for a GOP candidate . 3 . RAND HITS THE ROAD . Rand Paul was the most active GOP contender early on , and Politico 's Mike Allen reports the freshman Kentucky senator has a busy travel schedule ahead as he tries to build his support -- and not always in predictable ways . `` We 're told that Rand Paul is going to travel every weekend , going forward -- he 's not going to do many cattle calls , '' said Allen . `` Everybody else was in Iowa last weekend , he 's in Iowa next weekend , because he can draw a crowd on his own . '' `` And something that he 's doing , as he travels the country , is meeting with physicians -- thinking about a way to bring in some people who are not necessarily politically active who can give , who can talk about among the community , so he 's talking to the fellow doctors as he goes around . '' But Paul is also including some GOP stops that are a bit more predictable : `` He 's back to red meat next weekend in Iowa , '' said Allen . `` He 's doing a liberty event and his big rally is audit the Fed . That 's about the reddest meat that you can get . '' 4 . GROUNDHOG DAY : BUT FOR SOME IN GOP , THIS OBAMACARE VOTE IS DIFFERENT . House Republicans are planning to vote yet again on legislation that would repeal Obamacare , keeping a 2014 promise to voters even though they have no prayer of getting President Barack Obama to sign on . But for some GOPers , NPR 's Juana Summers says , the calculations are a little different because the law has been in effect for a few years now -- and access to health care is expanding even in Red America . `` This time , a lot of Republicans in this new Congress , many of them freshmen who are from conservative states , particularly in the South , are going to have to actually vote for something that 's now in play , but is actually giving people in their districts -- whose votes that they 're going to need -- health insurance , '' said Summers . `` This could put some Republicans , who in two more years will have to run again , in really , really tricky place , especially if they have core constituents who are benefiting . '' 5 . BEST WAY TO CAVE ? GOP LOOKS TO ESCAPE BORDER FUNDING FIGHT . Republicans won big in 2014 , and came to Washington full of energy to start 2015 . So one might find it hard to believe the party 's theme for the looming Department of Homeland Security spending fight might be best described as searching for the best way -- and time -- for the GOP establishment to cave . Jackie Kucinich of The Daily Beast laid out the calculations : `` And whether that means letting it go off the cliff or what -- whether it means letting it go off the cliff and then coming back ... They all kind of think they 're going to cave , they just have to find the best way to do it . ''
Jeb Bush 's post-Romney New Hampshire calculations . Rand Paul 's weekend travel plans & surprising strategies . GOP immigration showdown : figuring out how `` to cave ''