By Javier Manjarres

The big winner of the Iowa Caucus is undoubtedly former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum. Governor Mitt Romney edged out Santorum by a mere 8 votes in the closest Iowa caucus finish in history- but does this mean that Santorum is the next Mike Huckabee? While it easy to draw that conclusion based on their impressive performances in Iowa, Santorum and Huckabee are very different in that Santorum’s candidacy is both more conservative as well as substantive. While both men are staunch social conservatives, Santorum is a lot tougher on illegal immigration and more of a fiscal conservative than Huckabee was when he ran in 2008.

Iowa’s caucus historically has ‘leaned out’ the field of presidential candidates, and with last nite’s results, the question now becomes who will be able to capture Michele Bachmann’s former supporters now that she has dropped out of the race, and who will conservatives view as the clear “non Romney” candidate? From the looks of the field, Santorum could be the candidate that benefits the most from the influx of social conservatives that will see him as a viable alternative to Mitt Romney.

Santorum could very well pull off an upset in the upcoming primaries leading up and through Florida’s primary election. But one problem that could hamper Santorum’s chances is the “anyone-but Obama” sentiment that has swept the country which could cause Republicans to become jittery and opt to settle for who the media presumes will be the eventual Republican nominee.  Obviously, Romney is the clear front runner at this time, but there still is time for conservatives to rally around one candidate and stop Romney’s momentum. .

In Florida, scores of self-anointed ‘conservatives’ who have expressed reservations about Romney and/or have previously supported other presidential candidates are now saying that they will vote for Romney. Their reasoning for supporting Romney is but one issue- beating President Obama.

But this type of support is just what Obama and the Democrat circus are looking for- a divided and reluctant Republican electorate. The voting with ‘horse blinders’ approach means that there isn’t excitement for the presumed nominee, Mitt Romney. This is very reminiscent of 2008 when Republicans sided with McCain but were not emotionally invested in his campaign until Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was picked as the VP nominee.