Iowas surprises after the first Caucus in the race to the White House

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One in the eye for the Washigton elite and a boost for “Judeo-Christian” values. Those were the thoughts of Republican president hopeful Ted Cruz after his victory in the Iowa Caucus.

The Texas senator and fiscal conservative from the Tea Party was rewarded for his months of wooing the state’s influential conservative and evangelical leaders.

“Iowa has sent notice that the Republican nominee and the next president of the United States will not be chosen by the media, will not be chosen by the Washington establishment, will not be chosen by the lobbyists,” Ted Cruz told his supporters to rounds of cheers.

REPUBLICANS

The result was also one in the eye for Donald Trump who had led in the polls going into the start of the race to the White House.

Next up in the primary election process is New Hampshire where the billionaire holds a strong lead in the polls. He remains confident.

“We will to on to get the Republican nomination and we will to easily beat Hillary or Bernie or whoever the hell they throw up there, Iowa, we love you. We thank you. You’re special. We will be back many, many times. In fact, I think I might come here and buy a farm,” he said.

But is he holed below the political water-line or was the result just a blip in the campaign?

“I think Iowa provides a crucial dent in Donald Trump’s armour so it will be curious to see how both Cruz and Trump go about explaining what happened here in Iowa tonight,” opined Rachel Caufield a political analyst at Drake University.

Questions remain on the breadth of support for Ted Cruz within the Republican party as one supporter, Judy Haines said.

“If I have to vote for Ted Cruz, I don’t think I can because I don’t believe he can actually make it as president because they’re talking about suing if he runs because he was born in Canada”.

It was the narrowest of victories in Iowa for Hillary Clinton long considered the Democrat Party’s front runner. She avoided her fate eight years ago when she was up against the relatively unknown Barack Obama. She couldn’t hide her relief.

“It is rare that we have the opportunity we do now to have a real contest of ideas. As I stand here tonight breathing a big sigh of relief, than you Iowa,” she told reporters.

But the result has given momentum to the second placed Bernie Sanders an independent senator, seen as an outsider.

“We had not political organisation, we had no money, we had no name recognition and we were taking on the most powerful political organisation in the United States of America,” he said.

DEMOCRATS