Rick Santorum Wins Big in Iowa (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | The Iowa caucus ended with an exciting upsurge for Rick Santorum and his supporters on Tuesday night, with the former senator from Pennsylvania rising from second-tier status to a front-runner position as a result of winning 25 percent of the Iowa Republican caucus. With 99 percent of the vote tallied as of 11:43 p.m., according to CNN, Santorum and Mitt Romney had won six delegates and one-quarter of the votes.

Texas Congressman Ron Paul came in at third place with 21 percent of the vote and four delegates pledged, while Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry eked out a lone delegate in fourth and fifth place.

The caucus, serving as the first Republican primary contest, continued the roller-coaster ride of GOP candidates rapidly peaking and cratering in popularity: Paul and Santorum, previously considered nonviable candidates, quickly rose to replace a deflating Gingrich and a wounded Rick Perry as the top two competitors to longtime frontrunner Mitt Romney.

The big winner of the night, Santorum, gains invaluable momentum after unexpected public support has deemed him an electable candidate. A strong showing in Iowa indicates a strong likelihood of future voter support, particularly financial support, in upcoming primaries, meaning Santorum's cash-strapped campaign may soon receive an invaluable burst of funding.

And, with Santorum lacking the personal and political baggage of previous Romney-challenger Gingrich, the Iowa golden boy may well ride his surge for a long time as he proves to be a hard target for competitors' attack ads.

Santorum's identical twin in terms of voter support, former Massachusetts governor Romney, remains steady in the role of notoriously underpopular front-runner. While Romney was not necessarily surpassed by any individual rival, his lackluster showing in Iowa might trouble skeptical conservatives who wonder why he can never seem to pull away from the pack.

On the whole, however, Romney's inability to win a decisive victory in Iowa means relatively little given the size and scope of his campaign -- the lengthy Republican primary season means the eventual nominee needn't win the first battle, or even the first few.

In 2008, according to Fox News, former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee won the Iowa GOP caucus but Sen. John McCain eventually won the party nomination, revealing that early upset victories were not sufficient to topple entrenched front-runners who had the financial resources to continue campaigning nationwide. Romney, a former business mogul, has deep pockets and a large network of donors that can easily carry his campaign aloft all the way to the Republican National Convention.

Paul, who finished in third place, gained little from his impressive showing. Unlike the young-looking Santorum, Paul is likely considered too old by most voters to be a realistic choice for president: The longtime U.S. representative is 76 years old, which is a political liability after the 2008 presidential election saw GOP nominee McCain, then 72, face scrutiny over his septuagenarian status. An MSNBC article from 2008 reported voters were unsure about McCain's ability, given his advanced age, to handle the stresses of the Oval Office.

So Santorum wins big by going toe-to-toe with the slow-but-steady frontrunner, while said front-runner Romney remains mired in the low-wattage begrudging glow of "eventual nominee" status. Paul, despite boosting his popularity at the last minute, remains unelectable regardless of his Iowa prowess.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/gop/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ac/20120104/pl_ac/10789677_rick_santorum_wins_big_in_iowa

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