Republicans wrapped up the Iowa caucuses last night (after this commute-weary journalist fell asleep watching CNN) and have chosen former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney as their champion of conservatism … by eight votes. Yes. Eight. Shmoneh. Ocho. Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum was one Bachmann-sized family away from winning in Iowa.
Meanwhile, President Barack Obama waits in the wings and was already currying Democratic support in the Hawkeye State.
In a close third place, Texas Rep. Ron Paul took 26,219, many of which were under the age of 30. In fact, 50 percent of the people who responded to CNN entrance polls who were 17-24 voted for Paul. Among those who attended college, 22 percent voted for Paul (not far behind Romney and Santorum). Of those who have never attended a GOP caucus, 33 percent voted for Paul. Of those who make less than $30,000 a year, 37 percent voted for Paul. All of these numbers point to strong support for Paul on campus.
It’s no secret that Paul has a significant and passionate following, particularly among first-time voters. In fact, Paul told the Today Show on NBC that young people disappointed with Obama are turning to Paul for a new president.
Why should Jewish college students care? You’ve probably met some passionate Dr. Paul supporters in your student union. But Paul has also gotten some flack in the mainstream media for newsletters with his name on them that defended Jewish Holocaust denier and chess wiz Bobby Fischer.
Paul has since said he never read those newsletters (and told Jake Tapper of ABC that that lack of oversight is a “human flaw”) but one of his previous aides, Eric Dondero, has said that Paul “did read them, every line of them.”
In regards to Israel, Paul told Haaretz that he is a friend of Jews and Israel, saying the Jewish state is “one of our most important friends in the world.” He went on to say:
I do not believe we should be Israel’s master but, rather, her friend. We should not be dictating her policies and announcing her negotiating positions before talks with her neighbors have even begun.
Meanwhile, the same Dondero has said that Paul is very much anti-Israel:
He wishes the Israeli state did not exist at all. He expressed this to me numerous times in our private conversations. His view is that Israel is more trouble than it is worth, specifically to the America taxpayer. He sides with the Palestinians, and supports their calls for the abolishment of the Jewish state, and the return of Israel, all of it, to the Arabs.
Sounds a lot like a he-said, he-said confrontation. So I won’t venture to say what Paul actually believes. But there are certainly questions to be answered.
In other news regarding the GOP primaries:
- Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has suspended her campaign after winning five percent of caucus-goers votes (quite the fall from winning the Ames Iowa straw poll this summer).
- Texas Governor Rick Perry has already flown to South Carolina and plans to fight another day, despite only getting 10 percent of primary votes.
- Former Utah Governor and Ambassador to China Jon Huntsman has been campaigning in New Hampshire, the next state in the GOP primary schedule. He skipped out on Iowa, saying “Iowa picks corn. New Hampshire picks presidents.”
- Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich bought a full page ad in the Manchester United Leader, a major newspaper in New Hampshire, in an effort to attack Romney after an Iowa caucus filled with Newt-bashing by political action committees sympathetic to Romney.
- Former presidential candidate Herman Cain and current presidential candidate that nobody’s heard of Buddy Roemer both won less than one percent in Iowa, according to Google and the National Journal.
