The US presidential campaign is now underway in earnest, with the first contest to determine a single Republican nominee having taken place in the state of Iowa. In a tight finish, former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney won the caucuses by just eight votes, narrowly edging out social conservative Rick Santorum. In third place is anti-war advocate Ron Paul. Iowa’s polls are largely seen as setting the tone for the nomination race, by weeding out candidates. The eventual Republican nominee will be up against Democrat President Barack Obama in November’s election. Former congressional aide and diplomat, Joel Rubin, believes it’s Ron Paul who stands out from the rest, but is unlikely to get enough support from his fellow Republicans. RT on Twitter twitter.com RT on Facebook http://www.facebook.com