The results of the Iowa Caucus came through, and it wasn’t pretty. Mitt Romney, the nominal frontrunner only secured the win by 8 votes.(24.6%) The next nearest contender, Rick Santorum, had 24.5% while Ron Paul got 21.4%. The bottom 4 candidates took out significantly less percentages, with former front runner Gingrich suffering the most from all of the Republican infighting. Rick Perry now has to reassess his campaign (much like Herman Cain did) and Michelle Bachmann has dropped out
What is striking about seeing all of this unfold is how much fratricide is involved. Romney attacked Gingrich viciously, and to great effect, with each doing their best to smear one another as not being conservative enough. How is it possible that anyone could emerge from this field, ready to face a unified Democratic party? It feels like one is watching a side show more than a real attempt by different political contenders to prove they are fit to be the head of the free world. All the while, giving more and more reason to not take them seriously. If a person like Santorum, who now is getting slammed by the NAACP, can come in second place and be considered worthy, then there is a serious problem. It seems as though the tea party elements have highjacked the party, and now the mainstream Republicans can’t seem to get it back. Its fitting, the same fires they stoked, are the same ones that are burning them. Fracturing their party to the point where its unable to move forward in a unified way.
Well, that’s politics. Its sure to get worse as it goes along.
Marc W. Polite