Iowa. What It Means

04 Jan, 2012 by Kathleen McKinley

Print this article Font size -16+

Not a lot. But it does narrow the field a bit. It was quite a horse race though, with Romney, Paul, and Santorum all at 23% at one time. Which brought the best tweet of the night from James Taranto of the WSJ. He tweeted: “I’ve fantasized about a three-way, but not like this.” They reported tonight that 6 in 10 Ron Paul supporters don’t identify as Republican. So, that shows a great deal of libertarian showing it’s stuff in Iowa. It’s clear that many of the Ron Paul supporters, not conservative or Republican, drove Paul to the top just as they do at straw polls like the ones at CPAC. But we all know Ron Paul will not win in any of the other states. But that doesn’t mean we alienate the Ron Paul supporters. As many differences as we have, we do need to keep the big tent over all of us. So, it was a squeaker between Santorum and Romney. Santorum seemed to be the last man standing, and conservatives do love him. The final had Romney winning by a nose (EIGHT votes!). A real squeaker!. Santorum, second. Ron Paul, third. Newt Gingrich, 4th, Rick Perry, 5th, and Michelle Bachmann 6th.

I honestly think Bachman and Perry should quit and endorse. I know it’s early, and there is far to go before we sleep, but Bachman is done here, and Perry spent MILLIONS in Iowa, and is as evangelical as most of them, and came in fifth to…NEWT. He was happy here in Texas and we are happy to have him, so let’s just let him come home (he says he is “reassessing”). Santorum was bound to do well with evangelicals and he campaigned in Iowa like crazy, hitting every county, but he has no money, and Romney has a bunch. I don’t see Santorum bringing in the big money in enough time. But then, anything could happen in this up and down primary season.

The thing is Romney didn’t even really try hard in Iowa until last week. So, coming in on top is pretty telling to me. Tonight proves to me what I have thought all along. Republicans are playing it safe. They have seen other candidates vetted, and want no one with personal baggage or scandals that will drag them down in the general. Romney is as safe as it gets. We also know that that 20% that really decide elections aren’t Democrat or Republican, and they usually vote on emotion, not issues. Romney looks like a President. He sounds like a President. I think that most of that 20% see that our country is going in the wrong direction, and they are looking for someone who truly seems like a leader. That is why Romney wins. He isn’t the conservative favorite by far, but we know he will begin to make things better after what Obama has done. This is why conservative stars like John Thune and Chris Christi have endorsed him.

I think we know that Romney will do what needs to be done to stop the job killing and costly Obamacare. We know he will do the kinds of things that will encourage businesses to begin hiring again. We know that he will always put America first in everything he does. We know that his values will keep the left from their social engineering, and will focus on liberty for all people, with less government interference in our lives. I think he will also curtail this out of control spending, and keep us from financial disaster. The other candidates would do this as well, but we were looking for someone who won’t stumble against Obama, his machine, money, and the media.

No matter how you feel about Romney, he will do the right things. And that is enough for me.

Now, I know this is far from over. And Santorum certainly looked presidential in his speech last night. It was a great speech. Ron Paul will still be fighting, and Newt isn’t about to give up. Romney could still lose, but I just don’t see it.