Huffington Post's Marc Cooper has a post up discussing the chance of Ron Paul hurting John McCain with a third place finish tonight.

A strong showing by Paul tonight could severely damage McCain's overall strategy. McCain is said to be especially irked because the outsider campaign of the Texas Congressman is given little viability on a national scale. But Paul raised $20 million from his fervent supporters in the last quarter of 2007, enough money to act as a spoiler for more mainstream candidates like McCain.

"Ron Paul's like the Joker in a poker game," said one McCain staffer. Paul reportedly dropped three mailers overnight and kicked his phone banks into turbo-mode in an all-out push to make into the final tier of tonight's winners.

Both McCain and Paul are currently tied at about 10% in most polls of likely Iowa caucus-goers. McCain has not actively campaigned in Iowa and skipped last summer's Republican Straw Poll. His visit to the state today just hours before the caucuses was one of his rare campaign trips here.

Cooper's reporting brings up another point as well. With all the attention McCain has received he's also now got an expectations problem. A month ago, a third place for McCain would have been considered a remarkable victory. Two weeks ago, it would have been a great boost going into New Hampshire, though perhaps not vital. Today, if McCain doesn't come in third, it will be seen as a defeat. He still might be well positioned to take New Hampshire, but, by visiting Iowa and raising expectations, McCain has set himself up for defeat that wouldn't have been just a few weeks ago.