Iowa Caucuses: Santorum! Romney! Paul!
The latest from CNN on the Iowa caucuses with 88 percent reporting:
- Santorum 25 percent
- Romney 25 percent
- Paul 21 percent
- Gingrich 13 percent
- Perry 10 percent
- Bachmann 5 percent
- Huntsman 1 percent
Find your match with Reason's candidate quiz. Or just cut to the chase and check out Reason's massive Ron Paul archive.
1:30 A.M. UPDATE: With 99% reporting, it's Santorum over Romney by 18 measley votes. All of the percentages are the same you see above. Romney has virtually the exact same vote total and percentage as he did in 2008; Paul has more than doubled his. Rick Perry is reassessing; Bachmann may drop out.
Exit polls are fascinating–among voters for whom abortion was the single biggest issue, 58 percent chose Santorum (Perry came in second, with just 11%). Those who cared most about the budget deficit preferred Paul, but not by as much as I'd expect: 28% to Romney's 21%, then Santorum (19), Gingrich (15), Perry (11). Paul did the worst among the top 5 among those who made their decision most recently, suggesting that two weeks of media and competitor negativity took a toll (one that Santorum was able to avoid by sneaking up on everyone).
Paul and Romney are really matter and anti-matter in these exit polls. Those elevating electability above all preferred Mitt 48%-9% over Dr. No. Those who wanted a "true conservative" chose Paul 37%-1% (Santorum finished at 36). Paul did the best with the poor, Romney did the best with the rich. Paul dominated among self-identified non-Republicans (43% to Romney's 2nd place 19%); Romney won among those who had attended a GOP Iowa caucus in the past, and so on.