Mitt, Rick, Ron

In that order, but very close:

Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney waged a seesaw battle for supremacy in Iowa's Republican presidential caucuses late Tuesday night, a dramatic opening round for the campaign to pick a challenger to President Barack Obama.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry, a leader in opinion polls at one point, finished a distant fifth and said he would return to his home state "to determine whether there is a path forward" for his White House aspirations.

Texas Rep. Ron Paul finished third, not far behind the front-runners.

Returns from 97 percent of the state's precincts showed Santorum, a former Pennsylvania senator, and Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, in a near dead heat, a fitting conclusion to a race as jumbled as any since Iowa gained the lead-off position in presidential campaigns four decades ago.

I hate to say it, but I think Rick Perry's done, and he's the only one that might have really inspired the conservative base in the general election. Santorum will get blown out in New Hampshire and I'm not sure he'll still be a factor in South Carolina. All this means Romney will have a smoother path to the nomination.