That concludes tonight's liveblogging coverage. I'll have more analysis later.

Welcome readers of the ACT Blog which are being automatically re-directed here for caucus night coverage. I hope you're prepared for an interesting night. I'm sure Matt will be in attendance. Kick off your shoes and stay awhile.

Mitt Romney has the best chances amongst all the candidates I see to win the Republican nomination for President of the United States. His strategy is simple, and that's compete in all early states, and win them. An Iowa win is likely to launch him to the nomination. According to RealClearPolitics, he has retaken the lead in Iowa. A Mason-Dixon Poll has him 2 points up, and an ARG poll has him 9 up. The average has tilted back to Mitt's way.

Meanwhile, the big story being coveraged across the blogosphere today is that Ol' Double-Talk has taken the national lead. He has 17% support, Romney and Huckabee have 16%, and Giuliani has 15%, according to Rasmussen. If you read Rasmussen's own analysis however, they make it clear it's a muddled race:

One of the more amazing things about the Republican race this year is that it has grown closer and closer over time (see recent daily numbers). In a poll with a four-percentage point margin of error, the fact that five candidates are within five points means there is absolutely no national frontrunner. Adding to the uncertainty is the fact that 13% of Likely Primary Voters remain undecided.

If I could offer up my analysis, I'd say, if Mitt wins Iowa, he goes on to win the nomination. If he doesn't, he's still not dead. As for my man Fred, he's going to need one heck of a run to stay in things. Right now, it's looking good for Mitt.

Fred Thompson's advertising push was successful, and I know some ROTR readers chipped in, so I'd like to thank you all for that. I'll have continued coverage of Fred's Iowa surge as January 3rd rapidly approaches. Here's a fun video of Fred:

I am doing some reading at school, mostly articles from RealClearPolitics since the site isn't blocked like some other sites I frequent. One Newsweek article about the continued influence of Iowa caught my attention:

The scrambling and jostling was slightly ridiculous, if not unseemly—the Democratic National Committee warned Florida it would not seat the state delegates at this summer's national convention if Florida persisted in moving its primary date to Jan. 29 (it did it anyway, figuring an early primary would give the state more clout). For all the desperate jockeying, the net result may have been, ironically, to magnify the power of Iowa and New Hampshire. There once was a time when Iowa caucused a good month before New Hampshire's primary and New Hampshire came three weeks before the rest. Now it seems Iowa will caucus on Jan. 3 and New Hampshire will vote on Jan. 8—just before Michigan votes on the 15th and Nevada caucuses on the 19th. When a candidate had 30 days, he could recover from defeat in Iowa, just as Ronald Reagan did after an upset loss to George H.W. Bush in 1980. But there will be almost no time to come back from a subpar showing in Iowa in 2008—potentially creating a catapult or slingshot effect.

The ability to magnify will depend upon the American voter. If Americans, Republican or Democrat, are set on their candidate no matter what the results are in Iowa and New Hampshire, then the states are meaningless. If Americans change their minds after seeing the early results, then Iowa and New Hampshire mean more than ever. I'm sure Mitt Romney hopes that the early states are kingmakers.

Now, from the article, one of the most ridiculous, and startling statements about Barack Hussein Obama's candidacy, from none other than local black voters in Iowa:

Obama is strong in Iowa's small black community (less than 2 percent of Iowa's voters), though Flora Lee, Sioux City president of the NAACP, has heard black voters at dinner parties gloomily say, "Well, he's black, he'll get assassinated."

Good Presidents get shot (Lincoln, Kennedy, Reagan). Barack Obama would be far too incompetent to get assassinated. Iowa is still important, and I'm sure Rudy, Fred, and McCain are now regretting their shunning of Ames.