The Iowa results have made some points very clear.
Let's start with the Republicans.
1. The biggest loser was Donald Trump. Trump's whole campaign has been based upon how he is a "winner" and how he would make America "win" again. Despite that, Trump lost to Ted Cruz who Trump bashed and bashed and bashed. Trump may even come in third behind Marco Rubio who had a great night. Cruz won because he had a far superior organization in Iowa. Trump tried to get by with just publicity and flash, but ultimately he couldn't.
2. The biggest winner was Ted Cruz who pulled out a victory after it had looked like his campaign was sinking under the Trump onslaught. New Hampshire will be a hard place for Cruz to win, but after that, he may move to the fore again.
3. The other big winner of the night was Marco Rubio who surprised everyone by getting over 23% of the vote and running neck and neck with Trump. Rubio overcame being hit by the biggest avalanche of negative attacks directed at any candidate. Much of the attacks came from Jeb Bush (who got only about 3%). Rubio should get a big boost in New Hampshire from his Iowa performance.
4. Clear losers tonight also included Bush, Kasich, Fiorina and Christie, none of whom made it into the top five. Moving forward, those four are likely to see their supporters leave them to move to a more viable candidate (likely Rubio).
5. The next question is which of the candidates will now drop out. They ought to go soon.
For the Democrats, the race is still undecided. Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders by less than 1%. That means that Sanders has won and Clinton has lost. Even if Clinton ultimately gets more votes, Sanders has won. He fought off the "inevitable" Clinton machine and achieved a tie. In New Hampshire, Sanders will most likely win big.
It's been an interesting evening.
Let's start with the Republicans.
1. The biggest loser was Donald Trump. Trump's whole campaign has been based upon how he is a "winner" and how he would make America "win" again. Despite that, Trump lost to Ted Cruz who Trump bashed and bashed and bashed. Trump may even come in third behind Marco Rubio who had a great night. Cruz won because he had a far superior organization in Iowa. Trump tried to get by with just publicity and flash, but ultimately he couldn't.
2. The biggest winner was Ted Cruz who pulled out a victory after it had looked like his campaign was sinking under the Trump onslaught. New Hampshire will be a hard place for Cruz to win, but after that, he may move to the fore again.
3. The other big winner of the night was Marco Rubio who surprised everyone by getting over 23% of the vote and running neck and neck with Trump. Rubio overcame being hit by the biggest avalanche of negative attacks directed at any candidate. Much of the attacks came from Jeb Bush (who got only about 3%). Rubio should get a big boost in New Hampshire from his Iowa performance.
4. Clear losers tonight also included Bush, Kasich, Fiorina and Christie, none of whom made it into the top five. Moving forward, those four are likely to see their supporters leave them to move to a more viable candidate (likely Rubio).
5. The next question is which of the candidates will now drop out. They ought to go soon.
For the Democrats, the race is still undecided. Hillary Clinton is leading Bernie Sanders by less than 1%. That means that Sanders has won and Clinton has lost. Even if Clinton ultimately gets more votes, Sanders has won. He fought off the "inevitable" Clinton machine and achieved a tie. In New Hampshire, Sanders will most likely win big.
It's been an interesting evening.
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