Gringrich is being dragged down by the weight of his own baggage, nothing else.
Not to mention all the Paul operatives who are swarming Iowa. When this is allowed to happen, not election will be fair and honest.
Anybody who panics the RINO Establishment can’t be all bad.
Ron Paul will win Iowa ... then be out of the race in a month.
It doesn't even represent the voters in the state, much less the nation. Iowa can switch to a real primary or be left out.
The Rino establishment brought this on themselves. They hate Newt so much, thinking their attacks would help Romney, instead they’re getting Paul since nobody wants Romney. So goes the old saying, be careful what you wish for. It’s kind of funny in a pathetic sort of way.
Ron Paul, “You give me money, I’ll build the ZOOOO!”
What it shows is that Iowa is irrelevant. The miniscule state of New Hampshire is also irrelevant. Both are essentially media events.
South Carolina and Florida will indicate the actual trend
I have a different perspective on this, and that is that if Paul wins Iowa then maybe that will cause a decent Republican to enter the race. That way we will not be stuck with a loose canon and crook like Newt!
Do you think that there is any point at which the “establishment” will conclude that the “Ron Paul Movement” is a real paradigm shift in the country? How many states will he have to win to convince the “establishment”?
My answer is: No number of states won will convince the “establishment” because they are so presuppositionally committed to the idea that that “Ron Paul can’t win” that they will never come to any other conclusion. A conclusion can never rise higher than its presupposition.
In Madison’s Notes of the Federal Convention, it surprised me how often our Constitution’s architects expressed their concern about establishing a system where the voting masses were allowed to have too much power, due to the ignorance of most, and their ability to be easily swayed by the agenda of those desiring power.
The “Factions”, which ultimately became the Parties, and for most of our history merely two Parties, was also a grave concern to some Founders. The whole election process was seen as a weak link by some.
And then, of course, there were the Anti-Federalists . . . . . They lost.
“Paul poses an existential threat to the state’s cherished kick-off status”
That kick-off status should also be on the table. The kick off should rotate to different regions of the nation. This process with Iowa and New Hampshire is designed to give momentum to leftist establishment GOP candidates, by using voting open to both parties.