One Iowa Republican offered a quasi-apocalyptic prediction: “The Beltway chattering class gets back from the holidays and the first week of January they are in meltdown panic mode with one question: What in the world are we going to do with Trump? Until now he’s been an illusion. He’s been off their radar. Why? Name one presidential candidate who has spent less time in D.C. Has he been there at all? And yet they went home and everywhere they went — their family, childhood friends, shopkeepers and restaurant servers — all of them brought up Trump. There were no other candidates discussed. And now, they come back to reality, talk to each other, and everyone heard the same thing at their respective hometowns, in all 50 states. The question is: What now? And nobody will have the answer.”

“Cruz will fail to win Iowa, opening the door to Trump sweeping all four early states,” predicted another Iowa Republican.

But many Republicans — and some Democrats — are still convinced Trump will flame out. And soon.

“Trump will not have a victory after the first four states and will exit the race,” a Nevada Republican predicted.