January 4, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Post Iowa Caucus Carnage
Now that Mitt Romney has won the Iowa Caucus – by only 8 votes – where does that leave the GOP field?
Last night Rick Perry effectively announced he was suspending his bid for president and heading back to Texas to reasses his campaign. It appears after a night’s sleep that he has already completed that reassessment and will stay in the race afterall. It’s over for Michele Bachmann, however. She just announced the end of her bid for president saying, “Last night the people of Iowa spoke with a very clear voice and so I have decided to stand aside”. It appears the remaining candidates will be sticking around through at least New Hampshire, especially Jon Huntsman as that was his plan from the start.
If one thing is clear in the aftermath of the Iowa Caucus is persistence of a weak GOP field. The supposed front-runner wins by only 8 votes to a late surge from Rick Santorum. Nobody saw that happening even as recently as two weeks ago. It appears Republicans still don’t like Romney very much. Does this damage Romney’s chances or will a strong showing in New Hampshire boost him to solid front-runner status?
dks
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