This coming Monday we will have a more vivid picture of the Republican presidential contest.

Earlier this week we reported that about a third of Iowa caucus voters could change their minds before they cast their ballots.

Right now Donald Trump remains the front-runner according to the Real Clear Politics Average, followed by Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Ben Carson.

All the rest of the candidates have no chance in Iowa.

Now it is impossible to predict how the Iowa voters will react to Donald Trump not showing up to the debate last night.

We simply cannot put that into any kind of perspective.

So we won't even try.

Talking Points also cannot predict what will happen on Monday -- it is simply too foggy.

On another front, the candidate Rick Santorum is saying that I, your humble correspondent, am trying to influence the Iowa vote.

SANTORUM: “It’s sort of an outrage for the people of Iowa that you have a media that tries to pre-determine the race before the people of Iowa vote. And the reality is that Bill O’Reilly’s playing right now. (EDIT) You’re looking at a guy who announced on the last week of May and has not been invited back on Fox and Friends, has never had an interview on Megyn Kelly, has never had an interview with Bill O’Reilly.”

Now I feel Rick Santorum's pain.

He's absolutely correct we have not had him on The Factor.

But there is a reason for that.  We are not in the campaigning business.

We do not put politicians on the air simply to spout slogans.  That's what political ads are for.

We cover the news and when a politician is in the news, they get on the program.

That's why Donald Trump gets so much airtime.  He is dominating the news cycle by injecting controversy into the political arena.

And you know what?  That isn't fair.

Other candidates are being left out like Rick Santorum.

We looked for a reason to put the senator on, but we couldn't find any.

His poll numbers are very low.  His campaign strategy is what it was four years ago. There is simply nothing much new.

Again, Rick Santorum is absolutely correct that the lack of media exposure has hurt his campaign.

But it is not anything personal against Rick.  I like him.  He's smart, he's honest, and you could do worse in electing a president.

Again, just to be crystal clear, The Factor's mandate is to bring you new information and analysis that is independent and honest.

And that's the memo.