Romney declares "great victory" in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa - In a virtual tie with Rick Santorum in the Iowa Republican caucuses, Mitt Romney called the results "a great victory" and delivered a presidential-sounding speech expounding on the virtues of a Romney administration.

With almost all of the precincts counted, the former Massachusetts governor was locked at 25 percent with Santorum, with only a handful of ballots separating the two. Despite the closeness of the finish, it was a marginally better outcome for Romney than the one four years ago, when he expended significant resources in the Iowa caucuses only to finish far behind former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

"We also feel it's been a great victory for us here," Romney told a crowd of about 200 people at the Hotel Fort Des Moines, thanking them for "the great sendoff" to New Hampshire, which votes in a week.

Romney's race to lose

Senior Iowa adviser David Kochel said the night had been "exhausting, to see this battle back and forth, back and forth" between Romney and Santorum.

Romney's supporters, many of whom had been at the hotel for five hours, cheered throughout his remarks. He spoke about the failures of the Obama administration as he has on the stump for several months.

He was flanked for the speech by his wife, Ann, and four out of his five sons. As Romney wrapped up, Ann leaned over to him for a hug and kiss.