Mitt Romney Irks Iowa Operatives

Mitt Romney almost won the GOP nomination for President in 2008. He finished second in both Iowa and New Hampshire, but second wasn't quite good enough. It appears that the man who beat him in New Hampshire, John McCain, won't be a candidate in 2012. The man who beat him in Iowa, Mike Huckabee, will be. Romney will be a front-runner in New Hampshire, and an underdog in Iowa, out the gate.

But he won't ignore Iowa, he just can't. As Romney himself said in 2008:

"If you can't compete in the heartland, if you can't compete in Iowa in August, how are you going to compete in January when the caucuses are held?" Romney said in a typical exchange on Fox News after winning the Ames Straw Poll in August of 2007. "And then how are you going to compete in November of '08?"

Kind of hard to walk that back, don't you think? Well, the same holds true now. Romney was derailed by his second place finish in Iowa last time, and he has been there only twice since. That's not going to help things. Now, he even has old aides criticizing him for ignoring Iowa. Romney has to be careful. Huckabee will enter having won Iowa last time. Sarah Palin and Haley Barbour are both solid candidates for Iowa. Tim Pawlenty is working hard in his neighboring state. Romney needs to at least exceed expectations in Iowa. He's not off to a fast start to do so.