Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee wins the Iowa Caucus with 34% of the voters supporting his run for President of the Unites States in November. The win in Iowa means a Huckaboom, as in a beefed up campaign infrastructure and some valuable media time for winning which will bring him cash to compete but it also means that John McCain got his wish. Huckabee was able to slow down Mitt Romney as the focus heads into the New Hampshire Primary. Oddsmakers at Sportsbook.com have the Republican Party as +175 odds underdogs.
"Tonight, I love Iowa a lot!" stated Mike Huckabee in his victory speech at the Iowa Caucus while Chuck Norris cheers him on from behind.
But will Chuck Norris and a win in Iowa be enough to secure the 2008 Republican Presidential Nomination?
"The Republican race for President of the United States is clearly up for grabs despite the landslide win by Mike Huckabee," said Christopher Costigan, Publisher of Gambling911.com. "Huckabee does not have a whole lot of money and he's up against Mitt Romney and John McCain in New Hampshire so the road ahead is not as rosy as it is for Obama."
Former Massachussetts Governor Mitt Romney came in second place with 25% of the votes. Romney has solid campaign roots in New Hampshire so McCain is very happy that Huckabee slowed down any potential Romney tsunami heading into New Hampshire. The Romney campaign has already started blasting McCain in New Hampshire with negative attack ads against the Arizona Senator.
John McCain finished in 4th with 13% of the votes. Despite not being one of the front runners in Iowa means that McCain needs to win New Hampshire if he is to continue deep into the 2008 Republican Presidential Nomination Race.
Expect a huge shake up in the number of 2008 Republican Presidential Candidates after the Iowa Caucuses conclude. The Politico has already reported that Thompson may drop out after a poor showing in Iowa tonight, and then endorse John McCain for the Republican nomination. It quotes a Thompson adviser as saying: "Without a solid third-place finish, there's no point in going on…. It was an honorable race, and he turned out to be a good candidate. The moment had just passed."
The McCain strategists thought a 3rd place finish was possible so they decided to take the day off from campaigning in New Hampshire to make the rounds in Iowa. It looks like the plan will pay off if Thompson does indeed drop out of the race. National front runner Rudolph Guiliani decided to focus on the state of Florida instead of spending money in Iowa. Despite being a no show in the state, Guiliani was able to garner approximately 4% of the votes. Time will tell if this "national" strategy riding on winning Florida will pay off.
As it turns out, Texas Congressman Ron Paul finished in 5th place with almost 10% of the votes. The double digit numbers for Ron Paul prove that the doctor’s message is being heard even while being censored by mainstream media outlets like Fox News. Fox has decided to exclude Dr. Ron Paul from the upcoming Republican Debate schedule for January 6th in New Hampshire on the eve of the primary. Meanwhile, Paul out raised every Republican Presidential Candidate in 4th quarter contributions by raising over $20 million. The only other candidate to raise $20 million was Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton while she was the front runner!
Sportsbook.com has posted political betting odds on which party will win the 2008 Presidential Race:
Democrats: -250
Republicans: +175
