If Walker wins Iowa and Kasich wins NH, what do you think will happen?

[Matty]

Will Kasich be perceived as the "frontrunner" in that scenario?

[Maxwell]

Boredom will be perceived as the frontrunner.

[mencken]

I would think Walker would be favored to win South Carolina.

[Green Line]

Yes, kasich.the winner of NH tends to get more momentum from their win than the Iowa winner

[Donald Trump 2016 !]

Trump emerges as the front runner and wins the Republican nomination in a closely contested three way battle between himself, Kasich, and Walker.

[Rockefeller GOP]

People usually "respect" the NH winner more than the Iowa winner (for good reason ... I feel like Iowa is usually more fractured, is a caucus and is less representative of a general election electorate than NH is).  If Kasich wins NH and multiple "conservative" alternatives remain in like Trump, Cruz, Huckabee, etc. along with Walker, I think he'll win the nomination just like McCain and Romney did in 2008 and 2012 as the "moderates" (to the base, this has come to mean agreeing with the RNC on about 90% of issues but being willing to compromise at all).

[Fuzzy Bear]

People usually "respect" the NH winner more than the Iowa winner (for good reason ... I feel like Iowa is usually more fractured, is a caucus and is less representative of a general election electorate than NH is).  If Kasich wins NH and multiple "conservative" alternatives remain in like Trump, Cruz, Huckabee, etc. along with Walker, I think he'll win the nomination just like McCain and Romney did in 2008 and 2012 as the "moderates" (to the base, this has come to mean agreeing with the RNC on about 90% of issues but being willing to compromise at all).

Very true.  Especially on the Republican side.

And, yes, if Kasich wins the NH primary, he'll be considered the frontrunner.

[Bull Moose Base]

People usually "respect" the NH winner more than the Iowa winner (for good reason ... I feel like Iowa is usually more fractured, is a caucus and is less representative of a general election electorate than NH is).  If Kasich wins NH and multiple "conservative" alternatives remain in like Trump, Cruz, Huckabee, etc. along with Walker, I think he'll win the nomination just like McCain and Romney did in 2008 and 2012 as the "moderates" (to the base, this has come to mean agreeing with the RNC on about 90% of issues but being willing to compromise at all).

Very true.  Especially on the Republican side.

And, yes, if Kasich wins the NH primary, he'll be considered the frontrunner.

No , it's not necessarily true at all. Look at 96 and 00.

EDIT: The difference in 08 and 12 is that a candidate who party leaders didn't respect won IA but that's not the same as them not respecting the IA winner.

What's happened the last 4 primaries is the establishment had a strong preference for one of the 2 winners and overpowered the one they didn't like. But Walker and Kasich are, at this point anyway, both acceptable to party leaders, and would both be able to keep raising a lot of money. But Walker wouldn't be outspent like recent IA winners, would be favored in SC, and is probably acceptable to more rank and file than Kasich. So Walker would be moderately favored to be the nominee.

Kasich's best chance is winning NH after Cruz wins IA. Cruz, like Walker, would be favored to win SC, be widely acceptable to rank and file and have money to burn. But party leaders would put up much more of a fight against Cruz than Walker. Not that they're guaranteed to win it. I'd call Kasich moderately favored to beat Cruz if they're the first 2 winners.

[The Other Castro]

Cruz wins SC and Paul wins NV. Support for Bush drops, splitting between Kasich and Rubio (but mostly Kasich). The rest of the primary season plays out as somewhat like a 2012 Republican Primary redux.

[Kingpoleon]

It's certainly possible.

We all know Trump will collapse before Iowa in a Herman Cain-style way. He might stay in and get ~3-4% in Iowa and continue to do worse as primaries go on. Any way, Lindsey Graham might win South Carolina for Kasich by dropping out and endorsing him. After South Carolina, I'd predict Nevada and Colorado and Michigan for Kasich, with Florida going for Rubio as Kasich sucks up Bush's support there.

Come Super Tuesday, Huckabee, Kasich, Walker, and Rubio will still be fighting for the nomination. I'd expect Kasich to take Ohio and enough other states that he emerges the front-runner and Rubio drops out and endorses him. Huckabee and Walker would drop out eventually, with Kasich having this as his shortlist:

6. Kelly Ayotte(Bad at debating)
5. Jon Huntsman, Jr.
4. Susana Martinez
3. Lindsey Graham
2. Brian Sandoval
1. Marco Rubio