Video: Romney tops Santorum in Iowa by 8 votes

>> with savannah guthrie . good morning.

>> reporter: good morning to you, ann. the first votes cast at this 2012 race, iowa voters provided a photo finish reflecting a divided republican electriorelectorate. romney and rick santorum at one point were within four votes of each ear. an afterthought as one week ago --

>> rk rick santorum !

>> reporter: former rick santorum consolidated the support of iowa 's social conservatives .

>> thank you so much, iowa .

>> reporter: promising he would go to distance.

>> if we have someone to go out to western pennsylvania and ohio and indiana and wisconsin and iowa and missouri and appeal to the voters left behind by a democratic party that wants to make them dependent instead of valuing their work, we will win this election. we are off to new hampshire . because the message i shared with you tonight is not an iowa message or an iowa and south carolina message. it is a message that will resonate across this land.

>> the next president of the united states . .

>> reporter: mitt romney captured about 25% of the iowa voters, approximately the same he got in 2008 .

>> we're going to change the white house and get america back on track. on to new hampshire . let's get that job done. come visit us there. we got some work ahead.

>> freedom is popular.

>> reporter: finish be third, ron paul demonstrated a core of support that continues to make him a factor in the race while one-time front-runner, newt gingrich , griping about the barrage of negative ads that were his undoing in iowa , set a shot across the bough to romney phasing a more aggressive campaign.

>> we are not going to go out and run nasty ads, but i do reserve the right to tell the truth. and if the truth seems negative, that may be more of a comment on his record than it is on politics.

>> reporter: texas governor rick perry underperforming, despite investing vast resources here, signals he may drop out.

>> i've decided to return to texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race.

>> reporter: but for michele bachmann , finishing at the bottom of the pack, the dance goes on for now.

>> there will be another occupant in the white house . who knows, maybe even another michele in the white house .

>> in some sense there were two surprise winners, sbrick santorum, sure, but also mitt romney who spent a fraction of the time and resources he did four years ago and yet ends up at the top of the polls. as for rick santorum , romney advisers continue to doubt whether or not he will be able to compete as this race goes forward. as one put it to me he basically ran for governor of iowa . they doubt this will resonate going forward. john mccain will endorse mitt romney in new hampshire today.

>> savannah, normally when we talk about a vote separated by just eight people we talk instant recount. explain to our viewers why that's not the case out there.

>> reporter: there's no provision in iowa law in this caucus setting for an automatic recount, even for a vote as close as this. as a practical matter it would be impossible. a lot of votes came on slips of paper in caucus precincts, impossible to track, impossible to do a recount even if the law provided for one.

>> savannah guthrie in iowa , thank you very much.

Source: http://video.today.msnbc.msn.com/today/45868357/

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