Santorum gave the best speech in Iowa; Gingrich delivered the angriest

What a night.

At 2:36 a.m., Iowa’s Republican state chairman finally made it official: Mitt Romney squeaked past Rick Santorum in the Iowa caucus by eight votes. Eight.

Before the official results were announced, all six candidates gave their speeches.

How powerful were the speeches and what do they mean? Let’s take a look.

MITT ROMNEY (1st place)

Gov. Romney appeared completely nonplussed by his neck and neck finish with Santorum. In fact, both he and his wife praised Santorum’s impressive finish. He looked looser than he has in recent months, as two of his toughest competitors—Rick Perry and Newt Gingrich—were likely vanquished in Iowa.

Romney came across as confident that he’s going to be the nominee. And he did look presidential, having an American flag framed behind him that made his speech look like a State of the Union address. But his stump speech seemed a little canned, and he risks looking more slick than sincere.

RICK SANTORUM (2nd place)