General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Why on Earth should we nominate a presidential candidate who voted for war with Iraq? [View all]cascadiance
(19,537 posts)... and misrepresented how he was communicating to his followers in Iowa, even if he did lose.
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-250_162-596021.html
That coverage of his speech and the media aftermath did put him on the defensive about it in the weeks to come. If he hadn't had to deal with that, he still might have lost New Hampshire, etc. But I don't think it was necessarily a foregone conclusion.
Of course in the case of Republicans, you have them instead have the favorite's losing to Santorum in Iowa be covered up with vote totaling snafus to have it appear that Romney won fine, so that he could win other primaries later with Santorum likely less of a threat than he would have been had Santorum been declared the winner. But it's hard to tell there as well.