Matt Paul

Iowa sure is more South South Bend than it is Miami or New York. by Matt Paul

Iowa sure is more South South Bend than it is Miami or New York.

They will have to rehearse with 10 people. They have to understand they are going to be physically very close to each other.

You want to either close it out and close it out with a stemwinder and knock it out of the park, or you want to go first and be the speaker that everyone compares themselves to.

I can understand the decision to want to do your own event, you are more than likely going to see the people who are in the room several times before the caucuses, but it would have been a good opportunity for Barack Obama to demonstrate the support Barack Obama has in the state, which is significant.

These are Iowans who will have a very high propensity to caucus, the people in a busy summer weekend that come to Cedar Rapids on a Sunday afternoon to sit through 19 speeches are people who are absolutely going to caucus.

Amy Klobuchar could surprise pundits here, amy Klobuchar's Amy Klobuchar, has long been working to elect Democrats in Iowa and established Amy Klobuchar as a Democrat who gets things done.

Many of these experienced staffers calibrate these decisions on, one, who they believe in, and two, who's going to win, they desperately want to win.

Just because we're not seeing trips, or speeches, or high-profile interviews, doesn't mean they're not working hard to build a campaign.

They need some oxygen to boost their campaign right away. by Matt Paul

They need some oxygen to boost their campaign right away.

Hopefully these candidates are getting unvarnished guidance about what this is going to take. It is a grueling schedule, it carries an enormous personal toll and these candidates have to have a clear and crisp view of why they want to do this, it is smart that they are taking the time to consider these factors.

It is critically important in the caucuses that you respect that these caucuses are about relationships and you build those relationships with your organizers and your volunteers overtime, we have built, since April, (an operation) to do this on a statewide level so that we are engaged with, talking to and listening to Iowans no matter where they are in a number of different ways.

As we come in to the final days, we are focused on turning our people out ... focused on increasing and maximizing support and ... making sure we are in the right places.