Notice whom no one is talking about today?
We're talking about Bachmann because she's out, but she never really was in it anyway. She's always been out of it. We're talking about Perry because he's staying in even though he's also already out, which he's probably not smart enough to understand. We're talking about Gingrich because he's also staying in even though he's already out, which he is smart enough to understand, so the only reason he's staying in is to be as nasty and vindictive as possible to Romney. We're talking about Romney because all the king's money and all the king's men haven't been able to put his campaign together in the first place. Nobody likes him. Well, he does have a large family, but besides them. We're talking about Santorum because one of the finest minds of the 13th Century may be poised to be the last Not Romney standing. Until he falls over. Because other than the white Christian fundamentalist vote, Santorum won't get many votes at all. Now who are we forgetting? I mean besides Huntsman, whom nobody remembered in the first place.
Just when it looked like we could expect months of Paulbots trying to convince us that a racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, anti-science, climate denier whose animosity toward regulation would be the best thing that happened to the Koch brothers since they were born into massive wealth and the worst thing that happened to the 99 percent since the election of Reagan actually is a liberal hero... the guy goes and falls flat on his face in Iowa. Sure, he came in third. Yes, that means he alone among the also rans has a valid reason to continue. But he didn't do well enough to make today's headlines. He didn't do well enough to be or give a buzz. It was a horse race and all he could do was show. To have real relevance, he needed to be the lead Not Romney, and Santorum stole his Sturm und Drang.
Romney still has the money and the establishment, and he's still an enthusiasm gap made flesh, but Santorum now has the spotlight. Santorum won't look good in the spotlight, but he now can claim the mantle for the passionate irrational extremists who make up the base of the Republican Party. Paul can't. Paul needed to be the lead Not Romney but instead he became a footnote. The other guy. The other guy who is Not Romney, has little money, and can warm the hearts of people with frozen brains, but whom now no longer is a topic of conversation. He didn't do well enough and he didn't do poorly enough to be a topic of conversation. No one is talking about him. Except me. Because I'm nice.
Ron Paul's campaign has peaked. It's no longer worth getting piqued over it. He resumes his role as novelty act. And novelty acts aren't very interesting. Or relevant.