Winners: Sanford, Santorum, Cain
Losers: Romney, Huntsman
Bachmann needed to place first, which she did, but since that was expected of her, it doesn't really help her.
Paul did what he needed, but not what he wanted, so this was neutral for him as well.
Pawlenty could be classed as a slight loser given the gap between him and the top two, but the gap between him and the next two is enough for this event to be counted as neutral. Problem is his campaign needs something better than neutral.
Santorum and Cain have to be considered the big winners. If ether of them had done poorly, their campaigns would be toast now, instead they've done well enough to ensure that will not be folding before the caucuses this winter.
Perry would have needed to do better as a write-in for this to be considered a win, but he did well enough, tho he still has a tough path to the nomination starting so late.
Coming in behind Perry as a write-in can only be classed as a loss for Romney.
Gingrich remains stuck in the back, but his campaign has been doing so poorly of late, this can't be seen as hurting him. Zombies feel no pain.
Huntsman is the big loser as he did worse than McCain did four years ago and he should just throw in the towel now. Yes, John McCain came back from a 10th place finish at Ames to win the nomination, but Huntsman does not have the name recognition McCain did, nor is the GOP in the mood for a moderate maverick type.
Despite my earlier gaff in using his name instead of Santorum's, I think Sanford has to be considered a winner as well. Hiking the Appalachian Trail is more enjoyable than going to the Iowa State Fair.
In short, the top seven from Ames are your Republican contenders, no others need to be bothered with.
Poll
