Romney narrowly wins first vote

The former Massachusetts governor won 30,015 votes in Tuesday's Republican nominating contest over 30,007 for Santorum, Iowa officials announced after the two men slugged it out to a nail-biting photo-finish.

It marked a remarkable comeback for Santorum in the battle to capture the Republican Party crown and challenge President Barack Obama on 6 November.

The former senator, a devout Catholic who opposes abortion and contraception and has a hawkish foreign policy, took a shot at what are seen as Romney's more centrist views, saying "what wins in America are bold ideas, sharp contrasts."

Romney, a former Massachusetts governor and millionaire venture capitalist, said he and Santorum each had "a great victory" and congratulated Representative Ron Paul on his third-place finish - then trained his guns on Obama.

"This has been a failed presidency," Romney said late Tuesday, in a variation of the stump speech he used in Iowa, calling Obama "in over his head" and vowing "I will go to work to get America back to work."

Romney and Santorum ended with 25 percent each, Paul stood at 21 percent, and former House speaker Newt Gingrich led the second tier of candidates with about 13 percent of the vote.

After a months-long campaign onslaught - barrages of television attack ads, telephone calls and mailings, candidates blitzing across the state - Iowans headed into hundreds of caucus sites around the mostly rural heartland state.

They gathered Tuesday in places like school gymnasiums, libraries and church basements to speak out in front of neighbors on behalf of their chosen candidate and then vote by secret ballot.

The Iowa caucuses came against the backdrop of a sour, job-hungry US economy that weighs heavily on the embattled Obama's bid for a second term, four years after he promised "hope and change" in his historic 2008 victory.

Texas Governor Rick Perry announced he would return to his home state to decide whether to keep running, while Representative Michele Bachmann vowed to fight on despite her woeful sixth place finish.

Romney had made little secret that he hoped a strong showing in Iowa, a romp in New Hampshire, and another success in South Carolina, would let him lock up the nomination months before the general election.

He still may: Paul's unorthodox libertarian views have earned him a devout following, but he is seen as uncompetitive in other states, while Santorum, 53, faces an uphill fight to match Romney's massive national organization.

Still, while Romney's vast campaign warchest and high-profile endorsements have fed his image as the candidate to beat, he faces stubborn doubts about his conservative credentials, as well as his Mormon faith, and has been unable to increase his support among Republican voters nationwide above 30 percent.

Iowa - where unemployment is well below the national average - is also an unreliable predictor of presidential fortunes: Senator John McCain, the eventual nominee in 2008, came in fourth that year.