‘Survivor – GOP Presidential Primary’ : Iowa Caucus

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Now that the glorified straw poll that is the Iowa Caucus (no delegates were actually elected last night) is over, what is the result? (h/t Des Moines Register)

From the Des Moines Register: Mitt Romney wins Iowa caucus by 8 votes | Iowa Caucuses:

Rivals Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum waged a down-to-the-wire battle for the Iowa Republican caucuses Tuesday, but shortly after 1:30 a.m. today, Romney was declared the victor by eight votes.

Romney won 30,015 votes, compared with 30,007 for Santorum, out of 122,255 cast.

According to the AP, Iowa caucuses: Mitt Romney beats Rick Santorum by 8 votes:

Romney, who finished second in Iowa in 2008 despite a costly effort, initially campaigned cautiously this time around. But that changed in the race's final days as he pursued a first-place finish, running as a conservative businessman with the skills to fix the economy. This time, Romney drew a smaller share of the vote than the 25.2 percent he received in 2008.

When is a win not a win? You're looking at it. Despite running for president for five years and spending millions of dollars through his campaign and his purportedly (snicker) independent PAC to win Iowa, Willard "Mittens" Romney essentially won the same voters he won in 2008, less those who have died since 2008. He has entirely failed to expand his base of supporters.

Moreover, he "won" by eight votes over a guy who was a statistical blip just a few weeks ago. As the Rev. Al Sharpton quipped last night, Rick Santorum not only wasn't on the field, he wasn't even in the ball park a few weeks ago. He was the hot dog vendor selling hot dogs out in the parking lot.

As I said the other day:

Romney has a ceiling of around 25% of support in Iowa, which is less than he had in 2008 when he lost to Gov. Pastor Mike Huckabee. It means that 75% of GOP voters don't like Mittens — it's like being told that they have to go to their high school prom with their creepy cousin. There is a serious lack of enthusiasm for Mittens. Tea-Publicans are never going to love Mittens. This is a loveless marriage being arranged by the GOP establishment. It is only a matter of time before the Tea Party snaps and demands a divorce from the GOP establishment. Can you spell "i-m-p-l-o-s-i-o-n"?

The media villagers and Beltway bloviators tell us that, despite the fact that no delegates were actually elected last night, the Iowa Caucus serves the purpose of winnowing the field of candidates. So who is going to be voted off the island in "Survivor – GOP Presidential Primary"?

The Minnesota Loon, Michele Bachmann, may announce today that she is withdrawing after a dismal sixth place finish. The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports Michele Bachmann cancels SC campaign trip after finishing distant sixth in Iowa caucuses:

Republican presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann is canceling her campaign trip to South Carolina after a dismal showing in the Iowa caucuses.

Campaign manager Keith Nahigan tells The Associated Press that the Minnesota congresswoman plans a news conference in Iowa later Wednesday morning. Nahigan would not say whether Bachmann intends to drop out.

Bachmann was a distant sixth in Iowa and her campaign is low on money.

After the Tuesday night vote, Bachmann put on a brave face and told reporters that she would carry on. Not likely.

Governor Goodhair Rick Perry is also "reassessing" his campaign. Perry: Reassessing bid after Iowa caucuses:

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said Tuesday that he would head home "to determine whether there is a path forward" for his White House bid after he finished a distant fifth in the Iowa caucuses.

* * *

"With the voters' decision tonight in Iowa, I decided to return to Texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race," Perry said, his family standing behind him.

If Bachmann and Perry are voted off the island this week, their end-times Christian Reconstructionist and Dominionist voters will gravitate to Rick "man on dog" Santorum who has momentum coming out of Iowa. Santorum is also the recent winner of the Rupert Murdoch Primary. It will be interesting to watch how Murdoch uses his FAUX News Fraudcasting network to build support for Santorum to try to pull off the unexpected upset of Romney in New Hampshire. 

The Republican winner of the Iowa Caucus has never won the New Hampshire Primary. Romney has been polling with substantial leads in New Hampshire, but If history holds true, Romney could be looking at an unexpected upset next Tuesday. You can imagine how Rupert Murdoch is going to spin that!

Newt Gingrich, who sounded like a quitter last week, apparently has decided to take a different tack: he has made it his mission to destroy that liar "Mittens" Romney. He can't win the nomination, but he intends to take Mittens down with him. Gingrich claims to have raised enough campaign cash in the fourth quarter to stay in for New Hampshire and South Carolina (his "firewall"). The "positive campaign" of ideas phase is over. Newt is going all in with the politics of personal destruction that he perfected with GOPAC. Bring the popcorn to the debates in New Hampshire this week.

Jon Hunstman has only one shot and that's New Hampshire. If he does not win — the likely scenario — he will withdraw after the primary. Huntsman has had the most effective anti-Romney ads in this campaign to date, so maybe he can inflict some damage on Mittens before he leaves.