We’re seeing a possible trend out of Iowa. Santorum’s taking the west and Romney is doing better in the east. But since a greater portion of the vote is currently counted in the east, Santorum seems to have room to grow. So possible good sign to him. Too early to say with any certainty. We’ll update you again after the next round of votes.
Look at this color map of the results so far out of Iowa, tells a strong regional story.
In no particular order, my takeaways from tonight’s results. Read More
Video of Mitt Romney’s Shatneresque free-form lyric improvisation during the concession/victory speech.
They say that more than picking the eventual winner, the Iowa caucuses help to winnow the field. Last night Iowa may have done both.
But in a matter of days we may be looking at a very different race for the GOP nomination – that’s what happens after votes are actually cast.
Last night Rick Perry made every indication that he knew his time was up, and if Michele Bachmann has anyone serious left in her circle it’s tough to imagine them advising she continue.
If they drop out, will all their support move to Rick Santorum? No, but a lot of it would – maybe enough to make life difficult for Mitt Romney, who while technically winning Iowa last night, showed in his 25% of the total that a lot of GOP voters will just never be swayed to his side.
And then there’s Newt Gingrich – who couldn’t get out of Iowa fast enough, but who might stay in the race as much for the fight as out of spite for Romney.
We’ll be sorting through it all for you as it happens today.
Four years — and a few million additional bucks later — Mitt Romney managed to get just about exactly the same number and percentage of votes in Iowa as he did in 2008.
Our tip sheet on the 10 things to watch for today on the 2012 campaign trail.