Social conservative Rick Santorum and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney are tied for first place among Republican candidates in the Iowa caucuses, the first nominating contest of the 2012 presidential election.
Longtime front-runner Romney and a recent favorite, Santorum, have both won 25 percent of the votes. Anti-war advocate Ron Paul is slightly behind at 21 percent.
Santorum's campaign got off to a slow start, but surged in the month leading up to the Iowa caucus. He challenged his main opponent's electability in a post-caucus speech on Tuesday.
Santorum also used his speech to promote his tax code and blame the Obama administration for driving away jobs.
“So we eliminate the corporate tax on manufacturing so we can compete. We take the regulations, every regulation that's over $100 million, and we repeal all those regulations – repeal them all, and there's a lot of them. Under the Bush and Clinton administrations they averaged over 60 regulations over $100 million a year. This administration hit 150 last year. You want to know what is crushing business? This administration is crushing business.”
In a speech from Iowa's capital city, Des Moines, Romney congratulated Santorum and thanked Iowa voters for giving him and his opponents the chance to restore “the heart and soul” of the nation. He also pointed at U.S. President Barack Obama's failure to put Americans back to work.
“I will go to work to get American back to work by making America once again the most attractive place in the world for job creators, the innovators, the investors and jobs, the jobs will begin to flow like they have in the past. I'll keep our tax rates competitive, get regulators and regulations to see their jobs as to encourage enterprise, make sure we open up new markets for American goods, and finally take advantage of the energy resources we have here in oil and gas and coal and nuclear and renewables.”
After a poor showing, Texas governor Rick Perry said in a speech late Tuesday that he will head home to reconsider his presidential bid. He trailed former House speaker Newt Gingrich with about 10 percent of the votes.
“I've decided to return to Texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race.”
Meanwhile, Minnesota Congresswoman Michelle Bachmann vowed to stay in the race and compete in upcoming primaries, after claiming only about 5 percent of the votes.
Tuesday's caucus results in Iowa will most likely not reflect the eventual presidential nominees for either the Republicans. But the state's caucuses can push weak contenders out of the race, or propel stronger candidates to success in other states during the next several weeks.
Following the caucus on Tuesday, Paul, a U.S. representative from Texas, recapped some of the campaign themes that have distinguished him from his competitors.
He credited his success in Iowa above all to his strong anti-war stand and his desire for the United States to sharply curtail its international commitments.
” We certainly don't need NATO and the U.N. to tell us when to go to war. We have seen a great difference, the majority of the American people are behind us on this whole war effort. They're tired of the war, costs too much money, too many people get killed, too many people get sick. And, the majority, maybe 70 or 80 percent of the American people now are saying, Its time to get out of Afghanistan.”
Paul pledged to press the same issues in the New Hampshire primary election next week, including his call for greater protection of personal privacy, reform of the Federal Reserve system and a return to the gold standard.
Former House speak Newt Gingrich trailed in fourth place with about 13 percent of the vote. He addressed supporters at his Iowa campaign headquarters, stressing his opposition to Paul's anti-war ideas.
“The fact is, his views on foreign policy I think are stunningly dangerous for the survival of the United States. And I think it's a very simple question, which I would be glad, at the next debate, to ask Congressman Paul: If you have a terrorist who is prepared to put on a bomb and wear it as a vest, and walk into a grocery store, or a mall, or a bus, and blow themselves up, as long as they can kill you, why would you think, that if they can get access to a nuclear weapon, they wouldn't use it?”
Former U.S. ambassador Jon Huntsman came came in last with one percent of the vote. Huntsman has not campaigned in Iowa. He is pinning his hopes on a good showing in the New Hampshire state primary January 10.
The Democratic Party also held its caucuses. President Obama was unopposed for the party nomination but hosted a live web chat with supporters in Iowa Tuesday night.
He faces a difficult test to win another term in the November election. The nation's economy has recovered sluggishly from the 2007-2009 recession, leaving many voters questioning his leadership.
