Romney after Iowa
The official Iowa caucus results : Mitt Romney wins with 30,015 votes ahead of Rick Santorum with 30,007 votes

Added on January 19, 2012
According to an official recount published today, Santorum won Iowa with 34 votes ahead of Romney. Since 8 precincts could not be recounted, because the results were not available for certification, the recount remains incomplete.

Check also Romney wins in New Hampshire and Why President Obama has failed (both articles added on January 11, 2012.

Added on January 5, 2012
After her defeat, ending sixth in Iowa, Michele Bachmann has dropped out of the Republican presidential race. After the Iowa caucuses, Senator John McCain of Arizona has joined the ranks of GOP heavyweights such as Governor Chris Christie of New Jersey (on October 11) endorsing Mitt Romney.

Added on January 4, 2012 at 10:19 Swiss time
Former Utah governor Jon Huntsman did not officially run in Iowa. He simply conceded the state. Together with Mitt Romney, Huntsman is the other reasonable centrist in the GOP field.

Romney after Iowa
Article added on January 4, 2012 at 09:58 Swiss time
Every four years, Iowa tops the headlines for a few days. In 2012, it's because the Republicans are looking for their presidential candidate in caucuses organized around the small rural state, which normally has an atypical high number of evangelical and conservative voters heading to the caucuses.

In the first 2012 Republican presidential election of January 3, with all precincts counted, Mitt Romney has won in a photo finish. Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Straw reported the official results: 30,015 votes for Mitt Romney. 30,007 votes for Rick Santorum. Each candidate won some 25%. The Libertarian Ron Paul finished third with 22%. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich is fourth with 13%. Rick Perry fifth with 10%. Michele Bachmann sixth with 5%. Former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman finished last [added at 10:19: Jon Huntsman did not run in Iowa].

For the 2012 presidential election, a large range of loons are among the GOP candidates. People totally unfit for the highest office. In short, the Republican right wing base has unsuccessfully been in search of an anti-Romney. For the moment, their last man standing is Rick Santorum. It remains a mystery how an important fraction of the GOP wants to beat Obama with someone who has lost his Senate seat in 2006, who has never held executive office, who advocates the teaching of intelligent design and who opposes contraception (Santorum: “It's not OK because it's a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be” (Peter Wehner in Commentary).

Great American Songbook sheet music - Amazon.com books about Romney

Ron Paul deserves credit for sticking to his positions. He has some good points, for instance criticizing the policy of the weak dollar and pointing out to unsustainable foreign and military policies. His remedies however are extreme. To bring back all US troops would create a power of vacuum that would destabilize the world and that would be filled by powers such as China. Furthermore, like Rick Santorum, Ron Paul has no executive experience.

Luckily, the candidacy of the man looking like Mitt Romney's strongest potential rival, has imploded before the Iowa caucuses: Rick Perry. The governor from Texas brings in executive experience but, as it turned out in the debates, has no clue about foreign policy and cannot count to three. The Republican voters seem to be wise to realize that Rick Perry is no credible presidential candidate, much like Michelle Bachmann and Newt Gingrich.

The Messiah in the White House has turned out to be a social-democrat with no clue about the economy; in short, someone who needs to be replaced urgently. But to choose a dangerous amateur instead is not a convincing option either. The world cannot live with another dilettante occupying the Oval Office.

It all comes down to Mitt Romney. He is not the new savior. He has repeatedly shifted positions. In the last presidential race, he wanted to double Guantanamo (Obama has not managed to close it!). But Romney is a leader, a centrist and he understands the economy. He has executive experience. He has successfully run a business, the Olympic Games and Massachusetts as a governor. In the current economic and financial crisis, Mitt Romney seems to be the best available candidate on the horizon.

New Hampshire (January 10), South Carolina (January 21) and, above all, Florida (January 31), will clarify the situation in the GOP field much further. By then, Mitt Romney may already emerge as the clear frontrunner.

Great American Songbook sheet music - Amazon.co.uk books about Romney