Romney edges Santorum in first GOP vote

DES MOINES, Iowa ? Mitt Romney was declared the winner of Iowa's first-in-the-nation Republican presidential primaries early Wednesday following an epic battle with Rick Santorum that added an extra dash of drama to an already volatile GOP race.

Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, prevailed over Santorum with a razor-thin eight-vote victory that was more symbolic than substantial. With 100 per cent of Iowa's precinct reporting, Romney had received 30,015 votes.

Santorum, a former two-term Pennsylvania senator, had the support of 30,007 Iowa Republicans. It was the closest result in the history of the Iowa caucuses.

The final results were announced just after 2:30 a.m. Eastern by Iowa Republican Party chairman Matt Strawn following several hours of mystery over missing results from a single eastern Iowa precinct that determined the winner.

Ron Paul, a 76-year-old libertarian congressman from Texas, finished a close third with 26,186 votes.

Paul's fellow Texan, Governor Rick Perry, announced he was returning home to "assess" his candidacy "and determine whether there is a path forward" after a disappointing fifth-place finish.

The outcome highlighted the deep divisions among Iowa Republicans over the GOP candidates and, to an extent, reflected the broader national tumult that has characterized the party's presidential race for several months.

The Iowa caucus results provide a significant boost for Santorum, who until recently was considered an also-ran in the Republican race. He benefited from a late surge of support from conservative voters seeking an alternative to Romney.

"There's going to be a rematch," Santorum said, eyeing the upcoming New Hampshire primary on Jan. 10. "We're going to go to New Hampshire and take (Romney) on."

Santorum's arrival in the top tier of the GOP field, though, could bring new attacks on a candidate who has endured no serious scrutiny from the media or his Republican rivals. After building his entire campaign around success in Iowa, Santorum will also face a challenge building a national organization to capitalize on his strong Iowa showing.

The victory gave Romney a measure of political redemption in the Hawkeye State after losing the state's 2008 presidential caucuses to former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

But the Iowa results provided little immediate clarity about the strength of Romney's campaign going forward.

He governor spent less time campaigning in the Hawkeye State than any of the other major candidates ahead of Tuesday's voting and, at times, sought to downplay Iowa's importance in the 2012 election cycle.

Romney's conservative critics are likely to see his failure to break away from the GOP pack as further evidence the party's Tea Party wing and its religious right are still unenthusiastic about his candidacy.

Supporters will contend their candidate a stronger-than-expected finish in a state that has been historically cool to the former governor.

Speaking before the final results were in, Romney said the Iowa caucuses were a "great victory" for both himself and Santorum.

The top-three finish by Paul could bring some new energy to his campaign even as it will chagrin establishment Republicans who contend his antiwar foreign policy and civil libertarianism put him outside the GOP mainstream.

"This movement is going forward and we are going to keep scoring, just as we've done tonight," Paul told supporters.

"We will go on. We will raise the money. I have no doubt about the volunteers. They will be there. There is nothing to be ashamed of, everything to be satisfied with."

Many longtime Republican activists, however, see little growth potential for Paul beyond Iowa.

While the race was still in flux at the top of the Republican field, the early results were a crushing disappointment for three other candidates ? Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, and Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann.

Gingrich, who had led in Iowa polls before Christmas, was fourth with 13 per cent in early results.

Perry, who in September led the GOP field, was fifth with 10 per cent of votes. Bachmann, who was born in Iowa and courted evangelical voters by emphasizing her religious faith, had five per cent of the votes.

Along with Perry, Bachmann will face immediate questions about the viability of her candidacy.

The GOP campaign now moves to New Hampshire next week, where Romney launched his presidential campaign in June and is considered a prohibitive favourite.

Gingrich, whose support plummeted amid a barrage of negative advertising from Romney allies, vowed to remain in the race.

He congratulated Santorum for a "positive" campaign, but said the ads against him by Romney's allies were "shameful."

"We are at the beginning of an extraordinarily important campaign," Gingrich said.

"There will be a great debate in the Republican party before we are prepared to have a great debate with Barack Obama."

A Suffolk University poll released Tuesday showed Romney with a sizable advantage in the Granite State, leading with 43 per cent support. Paul was a distant second with 16 per cent support, and Gingrich had nine per cent. Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman, who skipped the Iowa caucuses to focus on New Hampshire, had 10 per cent support.

The size of Romney's New Hampshire lead sets up a potentially bruising week of campaigning in the Granite State as rivals aim to cut into his supports.

The Republican candidates will debate in New Hampshire on the weekend, and Gingrich has already warned he'll be taking a far more aggressive posture toward Romney.

In a television interview on Tuesday, Gingrich called Romney a "liar" who was trying to escape responsibility for negative attack ads against him by a political group with strong ties to the former Massachusetts governor.

"It's baloney. He's not telling the American people the truth," Gingrich said.

In a direct appeal to caucus goers in Cedar Falls, Iowa, Gingrich appealed for voters to reject "the consultant-driven, relentlessly vicious campaign" waged by Romney's supporters.

"We have run a relentlessly positive campaign. Our ads have been positive. The speeches have been positive," Gingrich said. "You can refuse to vote for anyone who has run negative ads."

With Romney so far ahead in New Hampshire polls, some of his Republican rivals have decided to focus their efforts in South Carolina, which will hold its first-in-the-South primary on Jan. 21.

Prior to his disappointing finish, Perry had planned to head directly from Iowa to South Carolina, where polls show GOP voters are skeptical about Romney's conservative credentials.

Some evangelical South Carolinians are also uncomfortable with Romney's Mormon faith.

Perry, who had planned to campaign in South Carolina from Wednesday to Friday, said he believes southern Republicans "are going to pick the true, authentic conservative, not a conservative of convenience that Mitt Romney is."

Romney, for his part, adopted a classic front-runner strategy on Tuesday and tried to stay above the fray.

The former governor, who on Monday predicted he would ultimately win the GOP nomination, made no mention at all of his Republican opponents during a morning campaign rally in Des Moines.

He focused instead on Obama, hitting the Democratic president for failing to deter Iran from pursuing its nuclear program and foundering in efforts to jump-start the U.S. economy.

Romney also cast Obama as a nanny-state liberal who favoured an expansion of government that hinders American freedom.

"We are an opportunity nation. We're a nation based upon merit," Romney said.

"I think the president would take us in a different direction. I think he believes America should become a European-style welfare state."

? Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F77/~3/XUAuuPn8yVs/story.html

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