DES MOINES – Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney’s narrow win in the Iowa caucuses could be at least a temporary boon for President Obama’s reelection hopes.

The close race showed the shallow support of Romney among conservatives and evangelical Christians, who largely favored Santorum. And both Santorum and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich are promising to aggressively attack Romney when the candidates head to New Hampshire, which will host the second contest in the race on Jan. 10.

Romney is still considered the favorite for the nomination because of his organization and money, and he has tried to ignore his rivals and start focusing on President Obama.
But Santorum’s strong showing, and Gingrich’s visible anger at attacks from Romney’s allies, will force Romney to at least temporarily fend off attacks on his rivals instead of looking forward to the general election.

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Obama didn’t leave Tuesday night to the Republicans. His re-election campaign encouraged Democrats to turn out to the caucuses, even as the president is unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

And Obama recorded a video message from a downtown hotel in Washington that was played at the sites of Democratic caucuses. Obama aides noted more than 25,000 showed up to support the president in a non-competitive election, only a few thousand below the totals of Santorum and Romney.

“This time out is going to be in some ways more than important than the first time,” Obama told supporters, arguing that his policies in office could be reversed if a Republican wins this fall. He added, “It’s going to be a big battle. I hope you guys are geared up.”

“We need to get another four years to get it all done,” he said.

Katherine Caracciolo, a 86-year-old retiree who attended a Democratic caucus at a Des Moines high school, said she came because “I just wanted to here for him.”

Her husband, 89-year-old Ralph, said “a lot of people don’t like that he’s black.”

“Everybody in the world asks about his birth certificate, and they ask if he’s Muslim,” he said. “My daughter and her husband live in Hawaii. They’ve seen him go to church.”

Iowa is a critical state for Obama. He won by 10 points in 2008, but is likely to face a much tougher race now, as his approval ratings have dipped in the state.