Hey, I have a blog and it's the day after the Iowa Caucuses. That gives me a gods-given right to pontificate about WHAT IT ALL MEANS. So here goes:
Actually, I think the only thing that really changed because of the Iowa Caucuses is that Rubio won't drop out soon. Sure, Cruz beat Trump, but Trump still did well. He only underperformed if you looked at the polls and ignored the fact that he had almost no ground game in a caucus state. Trump is not out of the race by any measure and he still is the front runner nationally and in the upcoming states (at least if the pre-Iowa Caucus polls still count). Even if Cruz and/or Rubio get a boost by yesterday's results, they are not going to erase Trump's 22 point lead in the average of NH polls.
As for the Democrats, yesterday's results just upheld the status quo to an even greater extent than it did on the GOP side. As I said previously, if Sanders had lost Iowa badly, that would have probably been the end for him. His virtual tie with Clinton was good enough to show that he continues to be a real contender for the nomination (never mind that after NH next week, he probably is going to start losing a bunch of states)
I guess one other thing the Iowa Caucuses accomplished is they got Huckabee and O'Malley to drop out of the race. Their support was so thin, the fact that they are out will have no measurable effect at all on the remaining candidates. Honestly, I have no idea why either were still in the race up until yesterday.
Actually, I think the only thing that really changed because of the Iowa Caucuses is that Rubio won't drop out soon. Sure, Cruz beat Trump, but Trump still did well. He only underperformed if you looked at the polls and ignored the fact that he had almost no ground game in a caucus state. Trump is not out of the race by any measure and he still is the front runner nationally and in the upcoming states (at least if the pre-Iowa Caucus polls still count). Even if Cruz and/or Rubio get a boost by yesterday's results, they are not going to erase Trump's 22 point lead in the average of NH polls.
As for the Democrats, yesterday's results just upheld the status quo to an even greater extent than it did on the GOP side. As I said previously, if Sanders had lost Iowa badly, that would have probably been the end for him. His virtual tie with Clinton was good enough to show that he continues to be a real contender for the nomination (never mind that after NH next week, he probably is going to start losing a bunch of states)
I guess one other thing the Iowa Caucuses accomplished is they got Huckabee and O'Malley to drop out of the race. Their support was so thin, the fact that they are out will have no measurable effect at all on the remaining candidates. Honestly, I have no idea why either were still in the race up until yesterday.
