Well, my predictions turned out partly right and partly wrong...but lets look at who the winners and losers from the night are...

WINNERS

Rudy Giuliani: In dealing a body blow to Mitt Romney's campaign, Iowans have done Rudy Giuliani, who did not bother to compete in Iowa, a massive favour. If Romney fails in New Hampshire, Giuliani will have got rid of one of his best funded and most credible opponents without having lifted a finger.

John McCain: Despite not campaigning in Iowa and looking dead in the water a few months ago, McCain has rebounded to win a very credible 4th place and momentum taking him into New Hampshire. Ideally, he would have forced Fred Thompson out of the race (there were rumours prior to Iowa that Thompson would drop out and back McCain). Nonetheless, McCain now has a real possibility of victory in New Hampshire, where he won in 2000 and where he has a strong base of support among independents. If he does, he is back in the centre of the race and in a strong position going into South Carolina. 

Mike Huckabee: Five months ago, Huckabee looked likely to be an also-ran. He is now in the very centre of the race. Nonetheless, whether he can carry less evangelical states than Iowa remains unknown. Further, it is hard to imagine any of the Democrats being overly concerned at facing off against a foreign policy gaffe prone pastor who firmly believes he ain't descended from no monkey.

Mike Bloomberg: If any nominees from the top tier of candidates gave Mike Bloomberg an opportunity to get into the race; it would be Obama and Huckabee. If they come out as the nominees, it leaves a big gap for a fiscally conservative and socially liberal pragmatist. And if Bloomberg gets in, it blows the entire race open.

The Democrats: The Republicans are in trouble in November if the relative turn-outs are anything to go by. More than 230,000 democrats caucused in Iowa, double the number of Republicans that did so, and double the number of democrats who caucused in 2004. There has been a significant energy (and financial deficit) between the two parties since about 2005, and all indications are that the gap is widening.

LOSERS

Mitt Romney: Mitt Romney's strategy, to sink overwhelming resources into victories in the early states, in the hope that that would give him momentum going into 'tsunami tuesday' on Feb 5th, have been dealt a massive blow. He probably now needs to win New Hampshire to stay in the race, but McCain is resurgent there and could well win. If he does, it's all but over for Romney.

John Edwards: Edwards staked everything on Iowa, where his strong union support gave him organisational muscle. The gamble failed. A narrow second place doesn't give him any additional momentum, and he lacks the funds to effectively compete against Clinton and Obama once the number of states in play starts to widen. Iowa was his best chance to win a state, and he didn't.

Hillary Clinton: Iowa was always a tough state for Clinton to crack, and in the early stages of her campaign many of her advisors were rumoured to have told her to skip it. She didn't and ended up in third. With Edwards unlikely to have much impact and Dodd and Biden out of the contest, New Hampshire is now a two horse race. If Obama wins it, his momentum could well prove unstoppable.