It came down to the wire but Mitt Romney went on to win the Iowa caucus. He edged out Rick Santorum by 8 votes. That’s the formality. The unofficial winners were Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

Why? Ron Paul was a winner because he has worked tirelessly to get out his message, and now that people are starting to listen he placed a very strong third place. Rick Santorum was a winner in the Iowa caucus because he was the anti-Romney candidate.

Even bigger than the winners were the losers. Gingrich, the self-proclaimed front-runner and campaign-complainer lost because he just flat out failed to court the voters. Even so, don’t look for him to leave the race any time too soon.

Rick Perry lost because his message doesn’t fit with anybody outside Texas. And because he recognized that last night, he will be thinking about the future of his campaign back home today. So, one could say that he is unofficially suspending future operations.

And the biggest loser of the night goes to Michele Bachmann! What a failure. She couldn’t even win her birth state. That should be enough for her to drop out of the race, but not so. Look for her to step out after South Carolina.

John Huntsman? Enough said.

So what’s next?! Hew Hampshire a week from now, and another victory for Mitt Romney. He is currently taking his opponents to the cleaners. After that, South Carolina. A state he has struggled in and one that Newt Gingrich has polled very well in. But, don’t negate the wild card Rick Santorum. He could be the game-changer in both those key states.

RealClearPolitics.com polling average for New Hampshire:

• Romney – 41%
• Paul – 18%
• Gingrich – 12%
• Huntsman – 11%
• Bachmann – 4%
• Santorum – 4%
• Perry – 2%

RealClearPolitics.com polling average for South Carolina:

• Gingrich – 37%
• Romney – 21%
• Paul 9%
• Bachmann – 6%
• Perry – 6%
• Huntsman – 3%
• Santorum – 2%