Rick Perry finished a weakening fifth, and announced he would return to Texas to “assess” his campaign. After 12 hours of consideration, Perry has decided to remain in the race, a decision likely influenced by Michele Bachmann’s decision to drop out, after finishing last of the official contestants in Iowa. Perry will pass over the more socially liberal New Hampshire to take his campaign straight to South Carolina, the third state to vote in the nominating contest.

Romney’s paper-thin margin of victory in Iowa, representing the tightest contest in the Iowa caucus in the nation’s history, was the opposite of decisive, but is certainly heartening for the Romney campaign as he moves to New Hampshire, where he has a sizable lead over Newt Gingrich.

Romney campaigned little in Iowa, especially in comparison to Santorum, who visited all 99 counties, and held an impressive 381 town hall meetings, but Romney became more aggressive in the period running up to the caucus, as the weakening of Perry, Gingrich and Bachmann gave him an opportunity for victory.

Romney declined to participate in the Iowa Straw Poll in August, and ran a different campaign from in 2008, when he invested heavily in Iowa, only to finish a disappointing second to Mike Huckabee. Nevertheless, his appeal as the candidate with the best chance to defeat incumbent Democrat Barack Obama, and an onslaught of devastating attack ads aimed at Gingrich and funded by Romney’s super PAC, allowed Romney to succeed in eking out an Iowa victory.

Known for its particularly socially conservative voters, with nearly 6 of 10 caucus-goers identifying themselves as Evangelicals, Iowa offered a perfect opportunity for Santorum, registering in the single digits only weeks earlier, to consolidate conservative support and champion his socially conservative platform. He has harshly condemned both abortions and gay marriage, and referred to climate change as “junk science”, saying it is an excuse for more government regulation. Santorum rose at just the right moment, with his campaign hoping that a strong result in Iowa will help present Santorum as the most viable conservative alternative to Romney, whom many in the Republican base continue to doubt.

Santorum, addressing a crowd of supporters while vote tallies placed him in a virtual tie with Romney, stressed the importance of family, religion, and values, reinforcing the influence these threads will likely have on his future campaign.

Santorum emphasized, “the basic values that Americans stand for,” and said that “[Americans] understand that when the family breaks down, the economy struggles.”

He referred to his supporters as “the same people who Barack Obama talked about clinging to their guns and bibles. Thank God they do.”

While Iowa embraced Santorum’s message and social conservatism, the state represents a hotbed of evangelical and socially conservative voters, and Santorum will face an uphill battle against Romney, and even Gingrich, in the weeks to come. Nevertheless, Santorum is taking it in stride. To open his caucus speech he thanked the crowd and said, “Game on.”