Romney home and dry

So,part two of the epic that is the Republican nomination comes to a close and for some it appears that the race is all but won.

With Mick Romney the clear leader and telling his supporters to turn their fire on Barack Obama and Rick Santorum's brand of Conservatism seemingly rejected,as the players move down the coast to South Carolina,is it all over by the shouting?

The results with Romney approaching 40 per cent and Ron Paul second on about 23 per cent and former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman third on almost 17 per cent seem to suggest that.

Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich were well behind with each getting less than 10 per cent of the vote,whilst Rick Perry who is pooling all his resources into South Carolina finished with just one per cent.

However maybe the Republicans are still waiting for that magic candidate to appear.Turnout was low suggesting that the range of candidates was hardly an incentive to go out and vote.

So to South Carolina and the 21st

All down to Iowa

After much huffing and puffing the Republican nominations for Presidential candidate get under way finally today in Iowa.

The campaign has up til now been littered with gaffes,withdrawals,embarrassments with true Republicans still holding out the hope that a "proper candidate to challenge Barack Obama in November will appear.

At the moment we have six runners and riders,the front runner from the start of the campaign,Mitt Romney trying to walk the tightrope between the needs of parts of his hardline party and his real views being closely pursued at least in this state by Rick Santorum and Ron Paul.

Also still in the race and favourite amongst some parts is former congressional speaker Newt Gingrich,along with the gaffe prone Rick Perry and one time tea party favourite Michelle Bachmann.

By all accounts it is going to be a tight finish and although this is a small state,it is always seen as important as Republicans gather in their precinct caucuses to discuss who they will nominate.

It is the start of a long running battle to the summer with New Hampshire,South Carolina and Florida to follow this month.

The Iowa caucuses are really about giving the media a voter-based reason to narrow their national coverage to two or three candidates,” said Mike Murphy, a Republican strategist unaffiliated with any of the presidential campaigns. “Success is driven by the media attention, which in turn has a huge impact on fundraising and even polling numbers in the next wave of state primaries.”

By tomorrow morning we will probably have a good idea of who won't be running for President and the three names that could still be in the race.

Christie drops out-Does that leave the door open for Romney

Procrastinating politicians has been keeping a watchful eye on the Republican nominee race across the pond.

The news overnight is that New Jersey Governor,Chris Christie has decided he won't be running leaving the door wide open for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is what appears to be a straight fight with foot in the mouth candidate Rick Perry.

According to the Wall Street Journal

Mr. Christie's announcement dashed the hopes of a small legion of donors, pundits and leading figures in the Republican Party who had argued that the governor, known as a blunt-talking spending hawk, would draw in moderate voters and push the GOP fiscal agenda in Washington. Some of those backers said they feared the existing candidates hadn't shown they have wide enough appeal to beat President Barack Obama next year.

Recent days have seen Romney leap into an early lead with the consensus being that the more people hear Perry speak,the less they like him.

The weekend's gaffe over sending sending troops to Mexico certainly didn't help but whilst polls show that Romney could give Obama a fight next November,he has yet to win over part of the GOP elite and this article says

While Romney’s differences with the Tea Party are well known, the Christie clamor showed how some Republican elders want a candidate with economic credentials who can tap into the emotions of the electorate in a way the cool, buttoned-down Romney cannot.

US Candidate Perry courts more controversy over a ranch and his solution for Mexico

I wrote last week about US Republican hopeful Rick Perry last week and his foot in mouth gaffe over BBQ's

Well the governor is at it again this time having to fend off the revelation that he hosted hunting parties on a Texas ranch called 'Niggerhead'.

According to reports in the Washington Post,the offensive name was painted on a flat slab of rock at the entrance to the ranch long before Perry's family leased it, but, according to several witnesses, he failed to obscure it until years later.

Perry has called the name “offensive” and said his father painted over the word shortly after leasing the land. That account differs from the recollections of seven people cited in the story, and it remains unclear when or whether Perry dealt with the name while using the camp.

This was the second blow to hit the Texas governor's campaign as over the weekend whilst discussing the Mexican drug problem and if the drug violence in Mexico continues to escalate,he said, "It may require our military in Mexico working in concert with them to kill these drug cartels and keep them off our border." Perry later added, "I think it is very important for us to work with them to keep that country from failing."