Why Iowa?

Every four years....when candidates begin to run for President...The pivotal battle always begins in Iowa...Why?  I can't begin to even answer this question...but I can tell you this....By the time you read this...A new front runner will emerge on the Republican side-


The 2012 Republican presidential nominee won't be crowned Tuesday in Iowa. But when Iowans show up this evening for the state's caucuses — the first nominating contest of the 2012 GOP primary — they'll be setting the parameters for a campaign that, after months of anticipation, is only beginning in earnest.

The latest polls, one released as recently as Saturday, have made clear that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Texas Rep. Ron Paul and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum compose the top tier of candidates vying for a win Tuesday night in Iowa.

But victory in the Hawkeye State is measured just as much against expectations as it is in raw tallies of support. That sentiment is fueling Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann in this campaign; each are hoping that a better-than-expected showing will revitalize their campaigns.

Perhaps the most-closely-scrutinized outcome will be how Mitt Romney, whose presidential campaign was all but killed in 2008 by a poor finish in these caucuses, performs this time around. He has kept an arm's length distance from some of the contest's proudest traditions (including the Ames Straw Poll in August), only to make a late play for the state this fall after no other candidate had managed to coalesce conservative support.

Mitt Romney has been the projected front runner for the duration of this cycle, and his campaign (sometimes with the help of a deep-pocketed super PAC called, (get this)- "Restore Our Future") has managed to swat away any challenges to his status as the campaign's leader. They hope that a win — or top-tier finish — in Iowa tonight, combined with a win in next week's New Hampshire primary, where Romney leads by wide margins, will all but clinch the nomination.

This primary cycle has been marked by, if nothing else, a topsy-turvy search by Republican voters for a conservative alternative to Milt Romney. And there are growing signs that the former Massachusetts governor should brace for his first sustained burst of scrutiny following Tuesday's caucuses.

Newt Gingrich, who tumbled from front runner status in Iowa just a month ago after suffering a wave of attacks from the Romney super PAC, presaged this new level of competition this morning.

When asked in an interview with CBS News if Romney were a liar, Gingrich flatly responded, "Yes." Isn't this the pot calling the kettle black?

"Here's a Massachusetts moderate who has tax-paid abortions in 'Romneycare,' puts Planned Parenthood in 'Romneycare,' raises hundreds of millions of dollars of taxes on businesses, appoints liberal judges to appease Democrats, and wants the rest of us to believe somehow he's magically a conservative," Newt said on The Early Show. "I just think he ought to be honest with the American people and try to win as the real Mitt Romney, not try to invent a poll-driven, consultant-guided version that goes around with talking points, and I think he ought to be candid. I don't think he's being candid and that will be a major issue." Funny...I could say the very same thing about Newt Gingrich...

Oh I love it when they fight!!

Then there is the former state senator from my very own state of Pennsylvania..Rick Santorum...a man I personally despise....A man I have been acquainted with for some thirty years, who I have always wondered how he ever got elected to any public office...Yes.. Rick Santorum!!!

He seems to poised to win the virtual game of musical chairs among candidates in Iowa positioning themselves as the anti-Romney candidate,and has been similarly emboldened to go after Romney.

"This has been a debate about health care … the signature issue is Obamacare," the former senator said on ABC this morning. "And we cannot put up a presidential candidate who is in, basically, in the same place as Barack Obama on government-run health care."

Because I have such a personal distaste for this man in particular...I'm not going to even comment on that or his racist comments today about how he is going to cut out all entitlements and welfare programs and in his own words... "I'm not going to make Black people's lives better by giving them other people's money.."

I have no words (I can print) to explain this totally reprehensible man's comments or his campaign...So I'll move on to someone else...

For his part,Mitt Romney has largely shrugged off attacks.(Which he should!)

"That's just fine — that's the nature of a campaign. I expect people to come after me, and if I do well here, I'll have a target painted on me," he said Tuesday on MSNBC's Morning Joe. "And if I can't stand up to that, I shouldn't be the nominee."

But if a Mitt Romney victory tonight could move the former Massachusetts governor closer to the Republican nomination, better-than-expected finishes by some of his Republican foes could threaten to drag out the primary into an expensive, bloody contest — a development which Democrats would no doubt enjoy.I know I'd enjoy the hell out of it!

Ron Paul is leaning on a somewhat unconventional cocktail of libertarian Republicans, young caucus-goers and anti-establishment minded Republicans to win in Iowa. His campaign, both in 2008 and 2012, has been notable for its intense enthusiasm from supporters and prolific fund raising. And in Iowa, where the strength of a candidate's organization typically correlates with a strong performance,Ron Paul is hoping his well-organized supporters can help secure victory.

Rick Santorum and Ron Paul have signaled they'll each head to New Hampshire after tonight's finish (early indicators of which won't emerge, since the caucuses all begin at 8:00 p.m. ET).For his part, Newt Gingrich, said Monday that he doesn't expect to win in Iowa, will also head to New Hampshire.Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who's skipped Iowa, is also competing in New Hampshire.


Rick Perry, meanwhile, will head to South Carolina. After having suffered from a tumble in the polls associated with his failure to remember during a debate the third of three federal agencies he'd pledged to eliminate, the Texas governor refocused his campaign to target Iowa's evangelical voters. He's within striking distance of finishing fourth, according to the Des Moines Register and NBC News-Marist polls published last week..

All of these clowns almost ensure President Obama's re-election. Hell..at this rate, he might not even have to campaign.