I'd like to give my opinion of the Iowa caucus. I don't think the Iowa caucus is much of a game-changer, but even so, I think that Romney will win it. I will get behind any candidate for the Republican nomination EXCEPT that whack-job Ron Paul. If he gets the nomination, I will be on the horns of a dilemma, especially after I preached to my friend John so much about not voting. :)
Personally, I like all the candidates. Although I have my favorites -- the more conservative ones, of course.
Here's the latest news according to Bloomberg:
Dec. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Mitt Romney held a narrow lead over his Republican rivals as Rick Santorum enjoyed a late surge in the most closely followed state poll released just three days before Iowa’s first-in-the-nation party caucuses.
The Iowa Poll by the Des Moines Register newspaper, published tonight, shows the former Massachusetts governor with the support of 24 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers, up from 16 percent in the poll a month ago. U.S. Representative Ron Paul of Texas had the backing of 22 percent.
Santorum, a former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania who has spent more time in Iowa than any of the Republican candidates, is seeing the benefits of his labor. The poll shows him in third place at 15 percent, although the newspaper said he surged in the final two days the poll was in the field.
“The second two days in the field were a whole new ballgame for Rick Santorum,” said J. Ann Selzer, president of West Des Moines-based Selzer & Co., which conducted the Register’s poll. “If he continues on this trajectory, he can win. He benefits from Romney holding steady -- not getting stronger with increased time in the state, and from a rather dramatic slide by Ron Paul.”
‘Dramatic Swing’
The swing for Santorum was unusually strong, Selzer said.
“I do not remember as dramatic a swing as these four days of polling reveal,” she said of her work with caucus polls.
Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, who led in the poll when it was last taken a month ago, registered at 12 percent. Texas Governor Rick Perry was backed by 11 percent of likely caucus-goers. And U.S. Representative Michele Bachmann of Minnesota recorded support from 7 percent.
“If this is the Super Bowl, then we just saw the pre-game show,” Gingrich spokesman R.C. Hammond said of the poll results. “But everyone knows the real action happens after kickoff.”
The Dec. 27-30 survey of 602 likely Republican caucus participants has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
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