The big winner (by 8 votes out of over 100,000 cast) was Mitt Romney. Rick Santorum followed close behind. Loopy Ron Paul finished in third. Nasty Newt Gingrich slumped from first place in the polls two weeks ago to a distant fourth in the final vote. Rick Perry, confused as ever, finished fifth and said he was going home to Texas to (lick his wounds) reassess his campaign. Folks, that means he's dropping out. And dead last was the miracle worker, Michelle Bachman. Last night she was full of spunk, saying she was headed for South Carolina. Then she canceled her flight and this morning, less than 12 hours later, she announced she'd had enough.
By the way, in the drawing above, I make the candidates to be, from left to right, Romney, Gingrich, Perry, Bachman, Paul and Santorum. Your views may vary.
So it's on to New Hampshire. The very angry Gingrich got out of Iowa on a chartered flight before midnight and arrived in the first primary state in the dark of night, scuttling off the plane like a venomous spider.
So, let's see. What are we left with? Five candidates. Probably four after Perry's expected departure speech. Plus Jon Huntsman, who's been lurking in New Hampshire, ready for the big show to descend. And in Iowa? Must be a feeling of disappointment to Republicans who saw their much vaunted caucuses end up in a virtual tie. Kind of like a lot of (c'mon, you had to know this was coming) rotten corn.
