There are many Americans who think it is not important to vote, that no one person can have an impact or change a result of an election.
That falsehood was proved to be inaccurate again last night when Mitt Romney won the Iowa Caucuses over Rick Santorum by the closest margin of any Republican Presidential nomination contest in its entire history–EIGHT VOTES statewide!
The win is better than a loss, of course, but realistically, Rick Santorum gained a lot more by losing by eight votes than Romney did by squeaking out such a tiny margin, and proving that he still has a problem with conservative and Tea Party Republicans, winning only one out of four votes in a state he has campaigned in since 2007, and doing no better in percentage than he did in the 2008 caucuses.
It looks more than ever that the battle is down to Romney vs the “Anti Romney”, who appears to be Santorum, plus the possibility of Jon Huntsman, but only if he is able to win New Hampshire or end up a very close second.
Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry are, thankfully, no longer factors in the race, even if they decide to remain in the competition.
Ron Paul will continue to compete, but will not be the nominee, and likely will not do as well as third place anywhere else but Iowa.
Newt Gingrich will do his usual “slash and burn” strategy against Romney, copying his entire career in the House of Representatives, but a poor fourth gives him almost no chance to move on into serious competition.
So we are down to three candidates in realistic terms, and possibly only two after New Hampshire next Tuesday!