Nothing About Iowa Caucus Results Say Romney Is a True Front-Runner (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | Mitt Romney may have walked away with a "win" in Iowa, but not much of one. The results from the Associated Press shows a race that is still very much up in the air.

Romney left with 24.6 percent or the vote, garnering 30,015 votes. This is only eight votes higher than runner-up Rick Santorum, who got 30,007 votes, or 24.5 percent. Ron Paul's supporters also came out en mass to deliver him 21.5 percent of the vote, putting him in third place with 26,219 votes.

These three can walk away with some sort of momentum, but how much is a questionable. An important thing to notice is that none of them was able to get even a quarter of the vote. All three men have very different political views.

What does this spell for the GOP? It could mean a long, expensive, drawn-out primary season. Romney may be able to claim a win, but it's a sign that he is still weak. Nothing about this says "front-runner." If anything, is says people are still wary of Romney.

There were some definite losers in Iowa. Michele Bachmann got only 6,073 votes to put her at 5 percent. After this defeat, ABC News reports Bachmann has dropped out of the race. Her defeat in Iowa was a full 360 degree turn from her top spot in the Ames Straw Poll, showing just how much momentum she had lost over the last few months.

Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich also suffered in Iowa, netting 10.3 percent and 13.3 percent of the vote. The two of them combined don't surpass Santorum or Romney, giving them an uphill battle. Rick Perry has not given up though, as he posted on Twitter that he is ready for South Carolina. Newt Gingrich has also used Twitter to report that he is on the ground in Iowa, and is already attacking Romney as being "timid."

Jon Huntsman, who did not focus on Iowa, had his own take on the Iowa results. The Washington Post reported Huntsman said that "[t]his is an open race." He might be right. Without a clear front-runner in the race, it does leave you wondering what will happen next.

The Republican Party seems to be divided, and the longer they stay divided, the more money they will have to spend to defeat each other. The more the candidates attack each other, the easier they make it for Democrats to repeat the attacks and raise money themselves.

With no clear leader yet in the GOP race, it could mean we are all in for a long primary season. Romney has the most to lose, as he's been seen as the likely nominee. If he continues to perform poorly, people may start to lose faith in his ability to compete. Only time will tell where this race will go, but it will certainly be a race to follow.

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Candidate Ron Paul -- Hard Sell or Republican Front-Runner (ContributorNetwork)

COMMENTARY | According the latest news from Yahoo! News, the Ron Paul campaign could use the old Anne Murray song, "Everything that is old, is new again" as its theme. Paul, who ran unsuccessfully in the 2008 election for president, is starting to surge in the polls leading up to the Iowa caucus. What is behind this increased support and what are his chances to actually take down incumbent Barack Obama?

The Paul campaign in 2008 was largely based in the colloquially named "grassroots style." It borrowed a tactic that Obama successfully used to get into the White House by focusing on the Internet and social media for fundraising and getting his message out. It worked really well and that foundation has carried over to this election cycle.

The 2012 Paul campaign has expanded to look more traditional. According to an AP story, he has expanded his on the ground team in Iowa to three times its previous size. Phone calls and TV ads have been an everyday staple in Iowa, each loudly broadcasting his name and message. Voters in Iowa have responded in the first hurdle to the GOP nomination by giving Paul a four-way split in the latest Real Clear Politics Poll average. Only six points split Paul from Herman Cain, the leader in Iowa so far.

In a previous article, I posted about Rick Perry's Achilles' heel. Unfortunately, Paul has one too. Domestically, he is very sound and in line with mainstream Republican voters. He is strong on the borders, a spendthrift on the budget and very much pro-life.

These topics are very popular with Republican voters and no doubt are at the heart of his support. Where his major problem areas lay are in his very much isolationist foreign policy and military positions. He has said Iran is harmless to the U.S. and we should not concern ourselves there. He favors the full withdrawal of troops from overseas and the withdrawal of all foreign aid. This runs counter from many in the Republican Party and is the area where Paul can be a hard sell to voters.

It looks like people are beginning to look past these shortcomings and focus on his domestic ideas. In the revolving carousal of the Republican front-runners, it appears that it is slowly becoming Paul's turn.

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