As usual, the Iowa caucuses have helped define the cast of presidential candidates more from the bottom than from the top.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (25 percent of the vote), former Sen. Rick Santorum (25 percent) and even Rep. Ron Paul of Texas (21 percent) all move on to Tuesday's New Hampshire primary with reasons to celebrate.
But history has shown victory in Iowa is often fleeting. More lasting is defeat, such as the setback experienced Tuesday by Rep. Michele Bachmann (5 percent of the vote) and possibly that of Texas Gov. Rick Perry (10 percent).
The Iowa-born Bachmann spent months campaigning in the Hawkeye State, where she stepped into national prominence when she became the first female presidential candidate to win the Iowa straw poll just five months ago. But after waging a campaign replete with bold talk and political blunders, she managed to garner a mere 6,073 votes on Tuesday.
The once-promising Perry managed twice that, but still took in only about 40 percent of the votes won by Romney and Santorum.
Faced with dubious prospects of improving on that finish in New Hampshire as well as upcoming primaries in South Carolina and Florida, Bachmann ended her presidential bid on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Perry, who at first said he was reviewing his options, vowed to carry on his battle in South Carolina.
For Romney, Iowa was certainly a victory in the sense that polls showed GOP voters were continually flirting with other candidates in hopes of finding someone they preferred to the former Massachusetts governor. But in Iowa, at least a plurality - eight votes - ended up coming back to Romney.
He scored particularly well among voters who see their primary objective as unseating Barack Obama in the fall, fueling Romney's contention that he stands the best chance of winning in the fall. Nevertheless, Romney's showing, in raw numbers, was about the same as it was four years ago when he lost to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
The biggest victory on Tuesday perhaps belonged to Santorum, who has struggled to get much media attention before this week. He'll get it now, but the question remains whether he will be able to attract enough financial support to go toe-to-toe with Romney and other better-organized contenders.
The biggest question mark concerns former Speaker Newt Gingrich who had a disappointing fourth-place showing in Iowa (13 percent) but has too much money and too much momentum to be counted out. Gingrich already seems comfortable settling into a role as spoiler at least, coming out swinging against Romney in New Hampshire on Wednesday.
"I find it amazing the news media continues to say (Romney's) the most electable Republican when he can't even break out in his own party," he said.
Unknowns also surround former Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. of Utah, who skipped Iowa all together.
In the end, there's only so much that should be interpreted from a voting process that involves less than half the number of ballots cast in Sonoma County during the 2008 presidential election.
Nevertheless, it's a start to real voting. More defining awaits next week.
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