The rough-and-tumble Republican race for the White House became even more entangled on Wednesday when Tea Party favourite Michele Bachmann quit and Texas Governor Rick Perry decided to stay in after all. Bachmann stepped down after a dismal sixth place finish in the Iowa caucuses contest, which was decided by a difference of only 8 votes out of the 122,000 that were cast.
Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney won Iowa by the tightest of margins over social conservative Rick Santorum, a former US senator who had been all but ignored until his poll numbers began to rise a week ago. Despite vowing on Tuesday night to stay the course in the fight to be the Republican nominee, Bachmann finally threw in the towel.
"I have decided to stand aside," said Bachmann, a conservative congresswoman and one-time front-runner. Throwing political pundits into confusion, Perry announced he is staying in the race for now, after saying he would go home to Texas to reassess his campaign because of a disappointing fifth-place finish in Iowa. The volatility of the Republican race is likely good news for Democratic President Barack Obama, who is building a huge fundraising and vote-getting organisation for the November general election. His polls numbers are improving as the jobless figure drops.
Bachmann repeatedly accused Obama of pursuing socialism. She said she would support the Republican nominee but did not endorse any contender. "Our country is in very serious trouble, and this might be the last election to turn the nation around before we go down the road to socialism, to a burden of debt too heavy for our children to bear," Bachmann said. Romney and Santorum finished the Iowa contest, the first voting of the 2012 presidential campaign, with about 25 percent support each.
Ron Paul, a Texas congressman known for his small-government views, was a close third with just over 21 percent. Former House of Representatives Speaker Newt Gingrich came fourth, at about 13 percent. After his razor-thin victory in Iowa, front-runner Romney predicted "fast and furious" attacks from rivals seeking to oust him from his front-runner perch in the race for the nomination to oppose Obama as he seeks re-election in November.
The Iowa result boosted Romney's status as the person to beat in the nomination race, although the slim margin underscored his continuing in ability to secure the trust of socially and fiscally conservative Republicans ahead of what is likely to be the most expensive presidential campaign in history.
Known as a moderate when he was governor of predominantly Democratic Massachusetts seven years ago, Romney had not been expected to do well in Iowa, a midwestern state where conservative Christian voters are a major influence on Republican politics. But he is a strong favourite in New Hampshire, which neighbours Massachusetts and holds the next primary on January 10. South Carolina's primary is set for January 21 and Florida's is January 31 and Romney's deep reserves of cash and a strong campaign infrastructure leave him best placed to compete. Campaigning in all of Iowa's 99 counties, Santorum emphasised his home-schooled children and opposition to gay marriage in a bid for support from Christian conservatives.
That strategy of staking his campaign on a strong showing in Iowa paid off, but with little cash and a bare-bones campaign operation he could have difficulty competing in other states. Gingrich, a former front-runner who finished in fourth place, signaled that he would campaign more aggressively against Romney, whom he has linked to a series of bruising TV attack ads. "If somebody has no record of actually performing things and no record of actually achieving anything in terms of conservative values, then having them give speeches about their conservatism has to be seen as suspect," Gingrich said on CNBC.
A Suffolk University poll on Wednesday showed Romney at 43 percent support in New Hampshire, to 14 percent for Paul and 9 percent for former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman, who has based his campaign in the small New England State. Gingrich was at just 7 percent and Santorum at 6 percent.
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