A spokesman for Republican presidential candidate John Katich's campaign gave his own positive observation on how the campaign plans to move forward, particularly with the Iowa caucuses approaching on Feb. 1.
"As millions are now being spent against us because we are rising, our campaign is remaining positive and focused with our paid media," spokesman Chris Schrimpf said to the Washington Post about a new campaign ad.
This level of exuberance is hard to witness in the other campaigns, unless the focus is on the more comedic and asinine facets of the campaign trail. The ongoing battle for the tedious role of frontrunner is now being contested from magnate Donald Trump by Texas senator Ted Cruz (neurosurgeon Ben Carson has since returned to a level of obscurity after many sleepy appearances). The recent debate, sans Trump, came across as a defeat for Cruz, whose likability in his own party has been crippling and anti-climactic, even with condemnation from fellow senator and candidate Marco Rubio and Fox News moderator and host Megyn Kelly on the topic of immigration reform.
Moving from the nauseating exchange, it is possible to see who can make it from these first votes that begin to decide who will follow Barack Obama as president. From a current glance (and with help from Five Thirty Eight), Trump will emerge as the likely winner, typically. His run has been going at a pace that has made me wonder if his massive endorser Sarah Palin would have had this kind of unspeakable gravitas in maintaining first place.
As for the next frontrunner, Cruz is still keeping ahold of his momentum, good and bad. Since the beginning, I have asserted to my fellow political junkies that Cruz will continue running no matter where he ends up on the polling spectrum. Even if he begins to bleed money like Pennsylvania senator Rick Santorum, Cruz appears to have the same blind, enduring anticipation for victory that could make him the Ron Paul of this election, who himself did not give a proper end to his 2012 run.
Looking at who is following Trump in the Iowa polls, extreme conservatism will reveal itself to be the winner: after Trump and Cruz, Rubio and Carson will follow, then former Florida governor Jeb Bush. His place, which is no surprise thanks to lowering donations, is at a spot where he may have a chance to overcome Trump somewhere during another caucus or primary, but I feel that the Trump machine will continue to amaze everyone.
Those at the lower end of the polls, simply, will begin to drop.
Briefly on the Democratic candidates, former secretary of state Hillary Clinton is looked at as being the winner. Not surprisingly, Vermont senator Bernie Sanders could also beat Clinton at the polls, given the "revolution" that his campaign has brought along with it. While they may not be reliable, Facebook polls during most of the Democratic debates have established Sanders as the regular winner; as with other potential presidential frontrunners, those polls might not matter when it comes to victories.
A victory by Sanders could upset the Clinton campaign, but being the first state caucus, anything can still change. Like any other primary or caucus, upsets are always possible.
