Let The Carnage Begin

One thing about the Iowa Caucuses, even if they have a crappy record of picking a winning Republican candidate from the field, they sure did a swell job of thinning out the herd.

Signs your candidate is getting out of the race:

- They call their operatives in other states and tell them not to do anything until they hear back  from the campaign.

-  They hastily call a press conference.

- The front runners mock the losers.

Let's face it, no matter how much candidates Huntsman, Bachmann, and Perry tried to paint a rosy picture over the last couple weeks, the fact remains that they are non-players from here on out. None even merit a mention as a Vice Presidential nominee.

Their problems?

Huntsman is dull. The dad from "Alf" was a more dynamic public speaker. He could be handing out gold bars and nobody would show up for fear of being bored to death. He got 745 votes. That's around 0.6% of the total voters.

Huntsman: Game over.

Bachmann is scary. Even she never knows what she's going to say next. She pandered to the Tea Party and even they stayed away from her in droves. The simmering feud with Sarah Palin didn't help her cause. Garnering just over 6,000 votes is actually a mandate. It's a mandate to quit.

Bachmann: Turn her over, Drive. She's done.

Rick Perry's problem is that God made him out of Rick Perry. He has no detectable extemporaneous speaking skills. When he couldn't remember one of the three agencies he wanted to shutter, even after he'd been given some time to think about it, he showed the world just what he was made of. He might play well in Texas, but the rest of the nation admires leaders who can think in complete sentences.

Perry: Git along little doggie.

So the field will be much narrower moving forward with Romney looking the strongest. Okay, so he barely eked out a win over Santorum and Paul. He still has a well oiled machine in place. We all saw how "well oiled" Gingrich's machine was when he had to unsuccessfully attempt to make on to the Virginia Republican primary ballot.

For God's sake, he LIVES in Virginia. You'd think he would have taken the time to READ the rules.

My prediction on the Republican nominee?

Mitt Romney.

Santorum and Paul voters are trying to send a message to the rest of the Party. When Santorum and Paul run out of steam, that will be the death rattle of the Tea Party movement.

It could also be the Republican Party's worst nightmare.

If either one runs as a third party candidate, it will siphon off enough votes for Romney to lose by a wide margin.

The threat of that puts Paul and Santorum in line for a shot at the Vice President's job.

That is also a nightmare for the Republican Party.

Both men are controversial. They are so far from the center that they will cost the Party a lot of the "middle ground" voters. Both men have enough baggage to sink a freighter. Also, in the heat of battle, expect them to be ripping into Romney on a more personal level.

Don't think for a second that someone isn't going to play the "Mormonism is a cult" card.

Why, you ask, am I writing off Gringrich as a VP candidate?

His ego would never let him play "second fiddle" to anyone else.

The field is going to be smaller, so watch just how personal the attacks REALLY start to get.

Get your popcorn and sodas folks, the show is just beginning.

Until the next time, all y'all take care of yourselves.

Air Traffic Mike, ret.