[Slings and Arrows]

Gee, what a surprise.

[ari-freedom]

Missed it by that much.

[PAConservative1]

Tokyo Rove had a box of Romney ballots ready just in case.

New MSM headline: “Landslide Mitt gets mandate from Iowa!”

[Carthego delenda est]

ummm.. I hate it when this sucks.

[P-Marlowe]

I guess they didn’t stop counting the votes until Romney took the lead. Chicago style caucus.

[vette6387]

The Iowa Republican Chairman looked absolutely smarmy in the announcement of the “Romney Victory.” It’s sad to contemplate corruption in the GOP, but this whole last minute “can’t find the ballots” smells just like what the RATs would be doing. Hope I’m wrong.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Milt had tens of millions of dollars and a huge machine, whereas Rick had jack squat. The public will figure that out and see who actually won. Hopefully, South Carolina and Florida will end Milt’s lifelong dream.

[jakerobins]

This whole Iowa Caucus stinks to high heaven! The Fox people said that the votes were lost so Romney and Rick agreed to pre-agranged vote totals?? This whole thing is Fishy.....The 2012 race is looking like a Dog and Pony show to hand Romney the Nomination and get in his Admin’s good graces....I’m calling shenanigans!!!!

[AlanGreenSpam]

To all who haven’t seen the excellent Santorum Iowa speech tonight, I highly recommend listening to the full 11 minutes of this speech here:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/01/04/santorum_celebrates_strong_finish_in_iowa_game_on.html

I was very impressed with his speech: from the heart and without a teleprompter or notes.

He’s so on target about freedom vs. fascism. I think now he’s got the best chance of articulating the conservative message and making mincemeat of Obama in a debate, while doing so with a boyish, innocent smile.

[fight_truth_decay]

But Santorum is getting the applause:

Jan. 4, 2012, 1:51 a.m. EST
Romney, Santorum in virtual tie in Iowa race
Caucus results up in air in historically close contest

"But it was Santorum’s performance that stole the show on Tuesday night, as caucus-goers rallied around the lesser-known former senator from Pennsylvania, who was handily out-spent by his better-funded rival."

And it is a picture of Santorum supporters being shown

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/romney-santorum-in-virtual-tie-in-iowa-race-2012-01-04?siteid=bnbh

[FrankR]

[CainConservative]

Willard has a very LOW ceiling. Period.

2012 IA:

Willard Romney 30,015
Rick Santorum 30,007

2008 IA:

Mike Huckabee 40,841
Willard Romney 29,949

Hmmmmmmmm.....

Forget IA.

SC + FL = nom.

[matt1234]

If you experience a caucus count lasting more than 4 hours, please seek immediate mathematician’s attention.

[CainConservative]

CNN just reported the final delegate count for tonight..

Santorum 7
Romney 7
Paul 7
Newt 3..I think
Perry 2

[Utmost Certainty]

Great. Santorum’s turning out to be the predicted spoiler candidate that will ensure Romney’s eventual nomination.

[Free Vulcan]

The Iowa caucus process is far too rickety for anyone to fix the outcome from some central location.

[goldstategop]

8 vote win for Mittens.

All that money and all I got to show for it was a lousy tie!

[tallyhoe]

This is a big win for Rick!!!

[incindiary]

I haven’t read many comments here on FR tonight, but I just wanted to remind you all that delegates are where it’s at. We don’t know the outcome yet, but some networks have been projecting that delegates-wise, Iowa was basically a three-way tie. Or close to that. (Romney/Santorum/Paul)

[Brandonmark]

[HiTech RedNeck]

Statistically this is a tie, and an unexpectedly good showing for Santorum.