And so Mitt Romney has won the Iowa caucuses.
He won by only eight votes.
But he won.
Of course the media have already made Rick Santorum the Big Story of the night. And Santorum did leapfrog a number of other candidates in his bid to overtake Romney. But he came up short in a photo finish.
This morning Santorum should remember that the dominant media that appear to be so anxious to crown him king are the same people who will not hesitate to vilify Santorum when the time comes. Be sure of it: The dominant media want someone like Santorum to be the nominee so they can set up an obvious right-wing opponent to Obama (a stereotype of sorts) only to shoot him down. Then, we can all pay homage to Obama once again. That's what the dominant media want.
Santorum is running a state-to-state campaign at best. Romney is running a national campaign and is prepared for the long haul. That's the type of campaign and the type of candidate we need if America is to turn the corner after three (going on four) years of Obama failure.
Here's my take on how the candidates came across last night:
Gingrich -- Perhaps the most pathetic figure of the evening, Newt sounded sour and appeared peevish as he carped, complained and desperately tried to embrace Santorum.
Bachmann -- The original winner of the Iowa straw poll she has long-since peaked. She was out of her league and must now spend her time defending her House seat.
Perry -- He never really found his footing in the presidential race. Bottom line: Iowa is not Texas.
Paul -- He continues on, no matter what. He's the under-the-radar candidate who can operate on a shoestring and who (it seems) would love to play the role of a spoiler.
Santorum -- Wrapping himself in a hardscrabble story, he loves to play the All-American choirboy. This is the ruse: He's not the guy-next-door; he's not the choirboy; he's capable of cold-bloodedness and he can snap your head off in a wink. He acted like he had been elected presidential governor of Iowa (if not the whole country) last night and he drenched every drop of pathos from the moment. But there's a fine line between piety and pomposity, between conviction and cockiness. The self-righteous factor is now in play.
Huntsman -- Made a big mistake by not going to Iowa -- just like Rudy Giuliani did four years ago. He must now play catch up. Not good.
Romney -- Regrettably, he gave a basic stump speech last night when he should have begun sharpening the contrasts with Santorum and setting the stage for the campaign to come. These battles should and must strengthen Mitt. But no one wants to see a needlessly protracted campaign because there is a Big Fish to catch: Obama. Eyes on the prize!
1 comment:
Rick Perry's problem was that he was inexperienced in the rigors of serious campaigning. He rarely had to debate while in his Texas elections, and he couldn't get away with silly gaffes on this stage that he could get away with in Texas. Which is too bad - he had the fundraising prowess to seriously challenge Romney and would have been far more appealing to conservatives. But his lack of experience on the big stage showed.
He and Tim Pawlenty must really be kicking themselves.
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