Iowa Caucus 2012 Winners And Losers (PHOTOS)

There is always plenty of discussion about how meaningful a strong performance in Iowa is, and these same arguments will likely be recycled to analyze Santorum's second-place finish on Tuesday. Regardless, Santorum's surge was by no means an inevitable outcome. He hitched the entire fate of his campaign to Iowa early on, but his enthusiastic tour around the state took a long time to return results. Santorum spent the majority of the pre-caucus campaign underpowered in fundraising and overlooked in polling, but a late swell propelled him to the top tier of GOP candidates in Iowa. The bounce may have helped his fundraising, but it also put him in the crosshairs of his GOP rivals, who were also vying for top billing in the state. As his Iowa finish proves, he managed to weather those attacks. And while Santorum's brand of conservatism may not play in New Hampshire or future primaries, his strength in Iowa will at least give the sweater-vested former senator some much-needed momentum going into the heart of primary season.

There is always plenty of discussion about how meaningful a strong performance in Iowa is, and these same arguments will likely be recycled to analyze Santorum's second-place finish on Tuesday. Regardless, Santorum's surge was by no means an inevitable outcome. He hitched the entire fate of his campaign to Iowa early on, but his enthusiastic tour around the state took a long time to return results. Santorum spent the majority of the pre-caucus campaign underpowered in fundraising and overlooked in polling, but a late swell propelled him to the top tier of GOP candidates in Iowa.

The bounce may have helped his fundraising, but it also put him in the crosshairs of his GOP rivals, who were also vying for top billing in the state. As his Iowa finish proves, he managed to weather those attacks. And while Santorum's brand of conservatism may not play in New Hampshire or future primaries, his strength in Iowa will at least give the sweater-vested former senator some much-needed momentum going into the heart of primary season.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/04/iowa-caucus-2012-winners-losers_n_1181927.html

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