Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney split win in Iowa caucus...

Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney wound up in a photo-finish in last night's Iowa Caucus. Libertarian candidate Ron Paul came in third, followed by Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Michelle Bachmann.

The breakdown: (with 99.0% reporting)

1) Santorum 24.6%
2) Romney 24.6%
3) Paul 21.3%
4) Gingrich 13.3%
5) Perry 10.3%
6) Bachmann 5%
7) Huntsman <1%

Rick Santorum has to be thrilled with his performance. Just a few weeks ago thought to be dead in the water, Santorum's timing was perfect as he rode a late surge to outperform several other Republicans who had peaked earlier in this campaign season. This finish should help Santorum immensely with financial donations and Santorum heads to New Hampshire. Mitt Romney is also likely pleased with the outcome given that just a few weeks ago, Romney wasn't even trying to compete in Iowa. With the massive lead Romney has in the New Hampshire polls, look for the former Massachusetts Governor to have quite the head of steam as he heads to South Carolina and Florida.

Ron Paul's 3rd place finish surprised me a bit as I had drank the kool-aid and felt his supporters were more organised and more enthused than anyone else's, but, I was wrong. He's got money so we'll see how...

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