In his latest column, Bob Novak gives John McCain a heavy dose of strong advice: seriously compete in Iowa, or fade away. Novak points out that Virginia Senator George Allen's defeat was bad news for McCain, because Allen's presence in the primaries would have splintered the conservative vote between him and Mitt Romney, who will now be able to solidify support on the right.

Novak opines that McCain can't afford to repeat his performance in 2000, when he essentially ceded the state. "If McCain were to skip Iowa and then lose to, or narrowly defeat, Romney in New Hampshire," Novak writes, "he would then risk being shut out through the Southern states' presidential primaries, nearly putting him out of contention." Novak points to McCain's recent hiring of Iowan GOP strategist Terry Nelson — one of the consultants behind the "Harold, Call Me" ad in Tennessee — as evidence that McCain is serious about competing in Iowa this time around.