In the final but uncertified results for the 2012 Iowa Caucuses, Rick Santorum defeated Mitt Romney by 34 votes.
The results will never be certified, because the numbers from eight precincts can't be verified and/or are flat out missing, hence, the asterisk.
So the official 'unofficial' final tally is:
Rick Santorum – 29,839 votes
Mitt Romney – 29,805 votes
In the wee hours of January 4 - post caucus night - Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Matt Strawn announced the razor thin eight vote victory for Mitt Romney.
This new result changes the narrative. The Romney campaign can no longer say Mitt is 2-0 in the races. The pundits cannot say that if Romney wins a 'third' in South Carolina, that the GOP nomination for President is pretty much wrapped up. Romney won't be 3-0. At best he'll be 2-1 and with Newt Gingrich now leading in the South Carolina polling, Romney could very well end up being 1-2 in the first three races of the season after Saturday night.
Romney is beatable, his nomination is NOT a foregone conclusion.
South Carolina and Florida will tell us a lot. And while there are a lot of delegates to be determined; I believe if Romney wins both SC and Florida by significant margins, it is over.
Posted by: SDJammer | January 19, 2012 at 07:04 PM