VINDICATION!!!
http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2012/01/rick-santorum-campaign-demands-credit-for-iowa-victory----and-gets-it.phpRick Santorum’s campaign wasn’t having any talk of a “split decision” in Iowa, as the state GOP called it Thursday morning. They insisted that the world acknowledge what the final vote tallies plainly showed: Santorum won.
Now it seems that the GOP is coming around. State party chair Matt Strawn said in a radio interview this afternoon that he owes Santorum, who he identified as the clear winner, an apology.
The final count shows Santorum with a 34 vote lead, reversing an eight vote Romney lead in the unofficial caucus night tally. There are still eight precincts that, due to an apparent clerical error, were not properly certified. Add in their unofficial total and Santorum’s lead increases to 69.
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“We’ve had two early state contests with two winners - and the narrative that Governor Romney and the media have been touting of ‘inevitability’ has been destroyed,” Santorum communications director Hogan Gidley said in a statement celebrating the results.
The campaign is also pushing back against the Romney camp’s statement that the updated results are a “virtual tie,” despite declaring his own victory with a smaller unofficial margin.
“He sounds like a kid who didn’t get what he wanted for his birthday so he smashed the cake,” Santorum adviser John Brabender told ABC News.