Just three weeks ago, Mitt Romney was mired in second place in Iowa and had no plans to actively campaign in the state. But after Herman Cain collapsed, and Newt Gingrich emerged as the frontrunner, the Romney campaign saw an opening. He committed to the caucus, stepped up appearances, and began putting some positive ads on the air. And thanks largely to millions in attack ads from his supporters’ Super PAC, as well as tough ads from the Rick Perry and Ron Paul campaigns, Gingrich’s numbers then collapsed leaving Romney as the late favorite. Romney’s investment paid off last night when he won the Iowa caucus over Rick Santorum by 8 votes.

Romney finished with fewer votes (30,021 to 30,015) than he received in  2008, and he only matched his previous percentage ofthe vote (25%). But a win is a win, and it is made only more impressive by how little Romney campaigned in Iowa this year.