The Hill News

Mitt Romney on Wednesday said he's delighted by his campaign's win in Iowa but is looking ahead to winning a national campaign.

"Right now you have at least three people battling for the top spot," he said on NBC's "Today Show."

Romney credited Santorum for running a campaign that focused on Iowa while Romney ran his nationally, a line that both points out Santorum's strength might be limited to Iowa and hints that Romney brought his own handicap into the race and still crossed the finish line in first place. 

{mosads}With votes being counted until early Wednesday morning, Romney won the Iowa caucuses but beat Santorum with just 8 votes. Santorum jumped to the front of the field within the last week, after struggling in the single digits for the past few months.

Romney cast himself as the underdog in Iowa, where he has only been campaigning for a few weeks. His campaign came "from way behind just a few weeks ago to a point where we're in a virtual! tie for the finish," Romney noted on ABC's "Good Morning America."

Romney also broke out a line about Santorum that he has used in the past to pull away from Newt Gingrich.

"We have very different backgrounds," Romney said of Santorum. "I spent my life, the first 20 years, in the private sectors...and I think Rick has spent most of his life in the governmental sector. Nothing wrong with that experience but it's very different, I think, if you want to get the economy going again."

The candidates next face a primary vote in New Hampshire on Jan. 10, a strong base of support for Romney.