Give Or Take Eight Vote

Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The New York Times
Michael D. Shear
"Despite Close Finish, No Recount in Iowa"

The nation woke up this morning to the shock that eight Iowans separated Romney and Santorum in yesterday's caucus. Eight is such a staggeringly small number, many people shared baffled comments on the power of eight Iowans. Despite the narrow margin of the caucus, there was no recount—or need of one. Iowa uses the caucus results to assign its twenty-five delegates to the Republican convention. Simple math dictates that an eight vote difference, out of 122,255 total votes cast, does not make a significant difference in percentages. However, of Iowa's twenty-five pledged delegates, thirteen are to go to Romney and twelve to Santorum. Eight people get one delegate. On the other hand, Iowa's caucus is non-binding, which is to say that delegates are not legally obliged to vote for a specific candidate. Take this as you will, it is both fair and unfair. It must also be considered that Iowa does not represent a large enough portion of the Republican party to merit much worry among candidates about poor results. The most important aspect of the Iowa caucus is that it sets the tone for the primary election. So, the tone is set: Romney and Santorum will have to make every move count because they are neck and neck, with Ron Paul uncomfortably close on their tails.

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/01/04/no-need-for-recount-in-iowa-caucus/?ref=politics
http://elections.nytimes.com/2012/primaries/states/iowa