Looking California, Skipping Iowa

Over at The Fix, Chris Cillizza seems convinced that some GOP candidates are ready to fork Iowa over to Mitt Romney.

Skipping Iowa is not a new idea. The state presents a tactical challenge, to be sure, and in other years it has been advantageous for some candidates to skip the state entirely. McCain did it in 2000, and that worked out for him until everything fell apart in South Carolina. In 1992, Bill Clinton avoided running head to head against native son Tom Harkin and that was a good choice for him.

But does it make sense for Republicans to give up against Romney? His organization in Iowa is strong, and he did win the straw poll, but that was more or less given to him as well. Cillizza's analysis of how much time Republican candidates are spending there seems to support his theory, but it seems weird. Who knows. Romney has a lead in the polls but disregarding Iowa is also a disregard for the ever mysterious momentum, which is a factor that can't be ignored.

For an interesting counterpoint, check this out: Romney is now self-financing his campaign even harder than Steve Forbes ever did.