Iowa: The Romney-Santorum Duel

A neck and neck race with two winners: The moderate former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney, and the very conservative ex-senator of Pennsylvania, Rick Santorum.

At the end of the caucus, which will go down as one of closest in American history, Iowa voted for two men on Tuesday evening, granting each of them 25 percent of the votes. At the end of the night, the two men were still separated by a few votes; they each considered their respective results a victory.

Coming in third was Ron Paul, who, at 76, was able to rally young voters with his anti-government and pro-liberty message.

For Romney, Iowa may represent the platform he needed to establish himself as the frontrunner. He is already the most stable in the polls but has difficulties convincing the most right-wing fraction of the Republican Party.

The question is whether Rick Santorum can suddenly assume the role of the conservative alternative to Romney and if he can get a hold of sufficient funds and infrastructure to make it to the end of the Republican race.

The ex-Pennsylvanian senator clearly got his conservative message across in his speech at the end of the evening, thanking not only his wife but also God: “For giving me his grace every day, for loving me, warts and all…” He also played the emotion card with constant references to his family and the difficulties of Americans. There is still the New Hampshire primary on Jan. 10.

The New Hampshire leg is crucial for Mitt Romney. He has been in the lead for months and a CNN survey presented Tuesday evening gives him 40 percent of the votes against Santorum’s 10 precent. A landslide victory in this state would allow Romney to forge ahead, even if the following election in South Carolina is likely to favor Santorum.

Consequently, Newt Gingrich’s role in the next few weeks could be a deciding factor. In an angry speech on Tuesday evening, the ex-Speaker of the House, who came in fourth, lashed out in response to the attacks made against him by several special interest groups from Romney’s camp. He also presented himself as another possible choice for Republican voters, all the while insinuating that he would support Santorum when the time came.

Among the losers, were Rick Perry, governor of Texas, and Michele Bachmann, Tea Party muse. If the latter is rumored to be determined to continue her campaign, Perry, once a poll favorite, announced that he was going to return to Texas in order to evaluate the situation.