Quote from Daxtrader:
They each picked up 6 delegates. Perry drops out. Santorum goes nowhere after this. This is between mittens and Paul. Everything is going according to plan for Paul at this point.
I wish that were true. Gingrich holds a commanding lead in SC and FLA - big delegate states with an older demographic. Newt plans to survive the early primary states, then take the South, to rebuild his warchest. Romney is polling in the mid-20's, in SC and FLA - within shooting distance. Ron doesn't even make double digits. NH is a lock for Romney. Paul will show strong, but given the GOP plan to scuttle his numbers in Iowa, I wouldn't be surprised if Santorum, that POS, "comes from behind" and earns another surprising finish in New Hampshire
I looked at the entry polls for Iowa, and they don't add up. The week prior, between 17-22% of "registered republicans" said they would vote for Paul. According to CNN entry polls, only 14% did. That's a ~5% drop in 3 fucking days. Most polls in the lead-up week underestimated the indie turnout. 25%, and Paul won 43% of it. Assuming Paul held his *minimum* 17% GOP base, he should have finished at 23.5%. A three-way tie, at minimum. If Paul held on to his 20% reported GOP base, he should have finished first at ~26%.
We all saw Newt take a huge dive after the attacks came on in full force. So it's possible, and the media absolutely hammered Ron. On the otherhand, the Iowa state party said they'd rig the numbers if Ron polled first. Ron has to win SC, or it's going to be real hard to maintain credibility as a "winner". Sure, we've got the money, and some delegates along the way for leverage, but the campaign for Liberty has to pick it up now, and hard.