We survived the Iowa Caucasus. It was a close one, though, and the results were not called by cable news anchors early in the evening. The victories went to Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.
Poor Michele Bachmann. The Iowa Straw Poll means absolutely nothing, as it turns out. Though she is certainly entitled to bragging rights for being the first female winner of that summer political exercise, in the end it means nothing. She talked up the fact that she was born in Waterloo, Iowa. In her home county, she finished in last place.
Ouch.
The Iowa caucus, in the end, usually turns out to mean little in the end, too. Mike Huckabee won it in 2008. It takes a certain loyal and motivated voter to spend the time to attend and vote in a caucus. A small percentage do and they tend to be more conservative than the average voter in other places. Those known as values voters are pandered to like in no other place.
Two candidates who were pandering strongly to those value voters now find themselves out of the running. Neither suspended their campaigns Tuesday night as the results came in but it is a matter of time.
To Michele Bachmann I would say, you did yourself in. Not only were you never the favorite candidate but you then turned your frustration and eventual bitterness onto the other candidates with really ugly rhetoric and outright false statements. No one likes that and it shows a real character flaw within you. And, if you have to pad your own effectiveness, don't be surprised when voters do a bit of research and realize you have no real record to show for all that fighting you claim to do in Congress. When you began declaring that you are not a politician, the sounds of desperation set in. What are you doing, then? You are a sitting Congresswoman. You are running for the highest political office in the world. Get real. Despite what you may think, you are no Iron Lady. Drop out now. Do not go into debt because of your ego.
To Governor Perry I would say, you did it to yourself. You pissed on the Iowa Straw Poll last summer when you decided to play tug of war with the day's headlines by announcing your candidacy in South Carolina. At a conservative website's convention, no less. That was bad and really showed a lack of understanding of the voters in Iowa. They think they are special. They feel entitled to their moments in the sun. You thumbed your nose at them and then went into their state, expecting them to embrace you. You and your SuperPacs threw millions at the caucus voters and you ended up 5th out of 6th. Was that fiscally conservative planning? Voters are not ready for another president from Texas with poor communications skills and a cocky swagger. You enjoy the attitude that Texas is a whole 'nother country. You are right. What plays in Texas doesn't play around the country right now. How can a guy who has been in politics for decades have been so ill-prepared? You have three million dollars in the bank, it is reported, so you could hang on a bit but I'm not sure you will.
The rest of the field is on to New Hampshire.
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