I’m pretty dang sure they’ll be fine.
|
Votes |
27,101 |
26,976 |
23,155 |
14,576 |
11,279 |
5,576 |
645 |
54 |
|
% |
25% |
25% |
22% |
14% |
11% |
6% |
<1% |
<1% |
Well this is unfortunate. C’est la vie!
Paul is in third place right now with 11% of the votes still to be counted. Romney is up by about 4,000 votes and Santorum is up by about 3,800. There is still hope, but what a sad day today will be if he loses. One of few times in my adult life I’m trying to strike a deal with an invisible man.
I’m surprised by how strong Romney has done… I think it’s vote-manipulation. I thought the lineup was going to be Santorum, Paul, Romney. But the Establishment doesn’t want Ron Paul to even make it to second place because then the media narrative would have to include him. Only with a third-place finish can they go on ignoring him like he’s Newt Gingrich or something.
Clayton -
Paul not getting first place in Iowa doesn’t matter so much as “the powers that be” seeing the groundswell before them. As I see it, they appear to be willing to sacrifice the entire human race in their increasingly desperate attempt to hold onto what they have.
Wow, Gingrich is hardcore fear-mongering against Ron Paul by name! This is going to be the narrative going into NH: Santorum v. Romney (1st tier), Gingrich v. Paul (2nd tier, arguing about foreign policy).
Clayton -
Iowa did not vote for Santorum. Diebold did.
@Freedom4Me: If Ron Paul loses in NH, you may never post another “NH is a free state” thread ever! EVER!
Clayton -
I just posted that Diebold voting machines (which are known to destroy votes and mess up the counting) count the votes. I’ll agree w/ you only if Romney or whoever beats Dr. Paul by a number so large you know it couldn’t have been a mistake.
I love you Clayton 
Haha
Actually, my half-hour period of depression is sort of over and now I’m thinking that RP could actually spin this quite decently. He could say “hey, I overperformed by national predictions by a factor of 2! When people get to know me, they like me! Plus, Santorum stands exactly 0 chance to be the nominee, so now we see it’s me and Romney! This is wonderful news!”
He can definitely make this work.
Yup! I still feel good. Iowa doesn’t matter anyway, right? 
All this means is supporters are gonna go NUTS!! I will be campaigning at ALL TIMES!
I don’t think they are using Diebolds. In fact, I seem to recall that Iowa outlawed electronic voting machines a few years back.
Clayton -
My post on the Daily Paul forums:
I was depressed. Let down. Defeated… For half an hour. Then I remembered one of my recent decisions - if what I’m complaining about can go on a “1st world problems” meme picture, then I have nothing to complain about.
And really. Guys. Realize what we’ve done. We’ve shown that Ron Paul can win a substantial amount of the vote. Twice his national poll numbers. He’s competitive! He’s in it to win it! Once people get to know him, they like him! This is wonderful news! He didn’t win, yes, but look at the numbers! He’s 3% off from winning! This is not a defeat, this is an amazing victory! We’ve opened up thousands of people to the message of liberty, and they can hear us loud and clear!
Santorum doesn’t stand a chance at winning the national elections! No one is kidding themselves! He could never win crossover votes! The election is now essentially down to Romney and Paul!
As soon as the media begins asking Paul about Iowa, he can spin this amazingly well! Show them that the establishment can be beaten, that people listen! This is hardly a defeat given he was unknown a month ago.
Come on, guys, we’ve done it in Iowa. Let’s redouble our efforts and do even better now!
Though the sky may darken now
And may bring sorrow to your brow,
Raise your gaze up to the sky,
For light of brighter days is nigh!
Thank you for your optimism Wheylous. Its true it is really a 2 horse race, but I was just really counting on Iowa because Romney has a firm grip on New Hamspire, so I don’t want Ron Paul to get lost in the conversation that he really just entered a couple weeks ago, when Gingrich fell. Maybe people will research Santorum now and hopefully get a bad taste in their mouth. Then the media will have to focus on Paul again. 4% of votes left to count. Santorum up by 3,900 and Romney up by 3,800.
It’s funny how when this is said about Santorum it’s actually true…yet it’s only used against Ron Paul…even when the point of the conversation is that the GOP wants a “legitimate” candidate and they’re willing to basically manipulate the voting to make that happen.
Think about what that bitch is saying there…everyone’s scared about Ron Paul de-legitimizing Iowa by winning the caucuses…so they push for Rick Santorum? That’s gonna make Iowa relevant?
The Romney guy was totally right when he threw in that zinger: “It’s like Santorum has been campaigning to be President of Iowa.”
Which is basically true. He’s got no organization, no name recognition, barely registered in the polls all year, barely made it into the debates, and raised only $1.2 million all year…and only has $189,000 left. Sure he’ll get a bit more money after this good performance in the first caucus…but like you said, who the hell is anyone kidding.
It is interesting that, if Paul had won, the Iowa caucus wouldn’t have meant much. Yet where can Santorum go? He has no money and no campaign in the other states. Even Huckabee was in a better position in 2008, if I recall.
So while it is upsetting, Paul is certainly still in fine shape. If anything, this is hopefully a final blow to Gingrich, and so the race may be crystallized as Romney vs Paul. And perhaps Santorum will gain enough momentum to take South Carolina away from Romney. With a good strategy, Paul may go to the Convention with a nice amount of delegates. The trick is making sure Romney doesn’t get there with a majority.
Libertarians in NH after hearing about Dr. Paul’s loss in the Iowa caucus.
HAHAHA, quote from KCCI TV: “In 2008, the Iowa caucuses made Huckabee a player, made Obama a player. The Iowa caucuses tonight have made Rick Santorum a player.” End quote, no mention of Ron Paul. He came within just 4,000 votes of both Romney and Santorum, he has a far larger money chest than Santorum and a larger, super-energized national political base. But he’s not a player.
Clayton -
The comedy had me at “Huckabee a player”