Months of political drama came to a head on Tuesday evening with narrow races on both sides of the Iowa caucus. Towards the end, several news outlets sprang into action and declared Ted Cruz as the GOP winner. After lobbying hard for months, Cruz took 28 percent of the vote. Donald Trump — surprisingly not “winning” — followed with 24 percent, and this could get ugly, folks. Meanwhile, the well-hydrated Marco Rubio came in surprisingly strong with 23 percent.
When all was said and done, Rubio was said to be “energized,” which is understandable. This was an impressive showing on his part, and he’s right up there with the two presumed leaders:
“For months they told us we had no chance … They told me I needed to wait my turn. But tonight … here in Iowa, the people in this great state sent a very clear message. After seven years of Barack Obama, we are not waiting any longer to take our country back.”
This turn of events led Mike Huckabee to withdraw from the race. Elsewhere, Trump took his second-place win better than expected. He also vowed to take New Hampshire next week: “We will go on to get the Republican nomination, and we will go on to easily beat Hillary or Bernie or whoever the hell they throw up there.” Trump’s more furious than he’ll admit, but he still tossed in a nice word for his surroundings: “I think I might come here and buy a farm, I love it.” Did you hear that, Iowa? Trump still loves you, and here’s his “humble” concession speech.