These Republican candidates spent in some cases more than a year -- in Mitt
Romney's case seven years -- campaigning in Iowa to be the next president.
But tonight, GOP voters there couldn't decisively get behind anyone.
Who exactly leads the Republican race going forward isn't clear, but we do
know two things:
1 The extremist Tea Party agenda won a clear victory. No matter who the
Republicans nominate, we'll be running against someone who has embraced
that agenda in order to win -- vowing to let Wall Street write its own
rules, end Medicare as we know it, roll back gay rights, leave the troops
in Iraq indefinitely, restrict a woman's right to choose, and gut Social
Security to pay for more tax cuts for millionaires and corporations.
2 We'll be facing an onslaught of unprecedented spending from outside
groups funded by corporations and anonymous donors. In Iowa alone,
so-called "super PACs" spent $X.9 million on almost exclusively negative
ads. These groups will turn their fire even more directly on us in the
weeks ahead to prove that their candidate is the most anti-Obama.
 This race is officially on -- and if we want to win, the only way is to
out-organize them on the ground. 
 Sign up to volunteer now, and an organizer will follow up in the next few
weeks about how you can
help.
 
Many observers still think Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee. If
he is, we will be prepared. But it's curious that no one can really explain
how, when or why the 70-plus percent of Republicans saying in polls and in
Iowa that Mitt Romney's not their candidate will suddenly come around.
So the path ahead for Romney -- or whichever of the Republican candidates
is going to emerge from this process -- is sadly and starkly very clear: to
run even further to the extreme right, and make even more dangerous
promises that threaten not only the progress we've made but the fundamental
fabric of American society.
We also know that candidates who take these extreme positions can, in the
right circumstances, win not only a primary but also a general election in
just about any state.
Just ask the Tea Party senators from Pennsylvania and Kentucky, and the Tea
Party governors in Florida and Wisconsin.
Watching the circus on TV, it's tempting to think it's almost funny -- but
this is not a joke.
We've got to be ready.
 What you decide to do next will determine which kind of politics wins this
election: 
 [url]
 
More soon.
Messina
Jim Messina
Campaign Manager
Obama for America
 image: Paid for by Obama for America 
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