Last night and for that matter, into early this morning, Iowa had their say and as horse races go, this one was a corker.
The GOP field broke into 2 distinct tiers and the results weren’t all that surprising considering the up and down ride over the last couple of weeks.
Rick Perry and Michele Bachmann finished last unless of course, you count Huntsman who not only didn’t compete in Iowa but dismissed Iowa’s contribution to the process less than a week ago.
In the actual vote count from the Iowa Caucus, the win went to Mitt Romney by less than 14 votes with Rick Santorum coming in second and Ron Paul 3rd.
Newt Gingrich, who a mere 2 weeks ago was running away with it finished 4th.
Now, given the numbers, who had the best night?
Santorum and not just because of the numbers.
Rick Santorum was a distant single didget polling candidate not more than 2 weeks ago. His rise to the top was nothing short of stunning. While I don’t want to take anything away from Santorum, I believe there are some factors which must be taken into account.
The infighting between Romney and Gingrich allowed an unchallenged Santorum to gain momentum.
There was also the comment by Alan Colmes which no doubt bolstered the family vote FOR Santorum.
Those things aside, Santorum literally went door to door throughout Iowa for weeks on end spreading HIS message and THAT, regardless of the other factors, HAD a positive effect.
With only a week to go before the New Hampshire primary, can Santorum maintain momentum or, as the front runner, will HE now become the target of slings and arrows hurled by Romney, Paul and others?
And what of Bachmann and Perry?
Bachmann will remain through New Hampshire but Perry is finished. Perry said he will assess his campaign and nobody does that and then remains in the race. It’s over for Rick Perry even though, in Iowa, he finished ahead of Bachmann.
Newt has a strong base in New Hampshire and South Carolina and it looks as though he’s about ready to take off the soft gloves. Will that be enough to reignite his campaign? Time will tell.
In his end of the night speech, Newt praised Santorum while, in his words, reserving the right to tell the truth, took shots at both Paul and Romney setting the stage for what is sure to be a strongly worded week in New Hampshire.
The race in Iowa was contentious but, looking forward, throughout this month of early primaries, it ain’t gonna get any less so. Looking farther down the road to a point when a nominee for the GOP is chosen, the going is gonna get a whole lot tougher.
So what exactly can we take away from the 2012 Iowa Caucus?
We can plainly see Huntsman was dead wrong in his assessment. Iowa sets the stage for everything that comes after and provides the momentum to those willing to grab on and run with it.
We clearly know that the race is tight, at least for now, and the roller coaster ride will continue.
We know that Romney will, tomorrow, pick up the endorsement of John McCain.
And we know that the final 2 county’s votes were misplaced causing those of us who were waiting for the tally to brew at least one more pot of coffee.
Perhaps the most important thing we can take away from this is something so simple and basic, it is stunning in the light of day.
While the big guys spent millions and traveled in comfort throughout the Iowa process, it was a guy, riding through 99 counties in a pickup truck, making 381 individual stops to shake hands and talk to the folks, who walked away in 2nd place but with the momentum.
While Santorum, like all the rest, has baggage and will become the latest in a long line of targets, he won the heart of Iowa and no matter what happens next week or for the rest of the month, that cannot be taken away from him and that, I might add, like Iowa itself, is America.
