Imagine how different the next few debates are going to look to Rick Santorum. He’s going to be at or near center stage and he’ll actually be asked questions.

On the other hand, imagine how much the same the next few debates are going to look to Jon Huntsman who just found out that when voters in Iowa aren’t picking corn, they’re arranging the podium order for the next few debates!

The OTHER Rick…Perry…will have the best seat in the house for the next few debates…The best seat in his OWN house as he heads back to Texas to reassess his campaign. Nobody goes home to “reassess” and then comes back to be a player in the race.

Want to know why?

Because those who donate money are now reassessing THEIR strategy and right now, they’re looking toward investing in center stage Rick over living room Rick.

Michele Bachmann has a problem.

First of all, in the live action version of Wheel of Fortune, she should have bought another “L” for her name.

Second off, she finished behind, by half the votes, the guy who’s watching the rest of the race from his couch.

Third, Miche-one “L” e Bachmann said last night she’s pressing on and claimed she could be the next Miche-one “L” or two e in the White House, but this morning announced she’s skipping South Carolina and will have a press conference later this morning.

As South Carolina is seen as THE early key toward getting the nomination and Bachma-two “N’s” is bypassing that state…I believe she’s well on her way back to concentrating on her seat in the House.

Newt Gingrich finished either a surprisingly good 4^th or a disappointing 4^th in Iowa depending on whether you were in the Newt’s gonna win or Newt doesn’t stand a chance camp which were separated by about 3 weeks from one another.

Newt may actually benefit from the Santorum surge IF Romney and Paul start spending money against Santorum and depending on whether or not Newt comes out swinging in New Hampshire.

Don’t look for Newt to take shots at Santorum but don’t be surprised to see him go directly after Romney and Paul.

Mitt Romney survived Iowa getting almost EXACTLY the same number of cauci votes in 2012 as he did in 2008. While he technically WON in Iowa this time around, he also technically LOST Iowa because after 5 years of campaigning there and MILLIONS of dollars spent there…he garnered 8 more votes than the guy who for all intents and purposes WON at least the HEARTS of Iowans.

And Ron Paul came in 3^rd which his followers are calling a great victory even after they were sure he’d finish 1^st. Many Paul followers last night were grumpy because they thought the count was either rigged or that they weren’t getting enough press for finishing what THEY termed as a VERY close 3^rd place.

Percentage wise, one could parse the numbers to make it LOOK close but that would in reality be ignoring reality.

Look at the Iowa Caucus like a football field. Romney crossed the goal line to win. Santorum was hot on his heels at the 8-yard line.

Ron Paul was 2.15 IOWA COUNTRY MILES behind Santorum.

Jon Huntsman can tell you, there’s a lot of corn to be picked in that 2.15 miles before you can actually get close to being close.

New Hampshire will be good to Paul because independents can vote there and Paul followers will claim another victory there whether or not Paul actually wins. We won’t get a real feel for Paul’s actual numbers until South Carolina and Florida.

The reality for Ron Paul and his followers is that Paul has never actually won a single presidential primary which, according to his followers, ties him with Rick Santorum.

IF Bachmann DOES drop out, the combination of her supporters and Perry’s, both from a vote standpoint and a fiscal standpoint should keep Santorum in the running for the rest of this month of early primaries.

Buckle up and strap on your helmets…There’s a race to be run!!!

UPDATE!!!

Michele Bachmann IS suspending her campaign. Her upcoming news conference WILL be that announcement.