In Iowa, Mitt Romney wages a stealth campaign

“I feel like we’ve gotten a bum rap about that — ‘Romney’s skipping Iowa’ — and it’s starting to get under my skin,” said David Kochel, Romney’s top Iowa strategist. “There’s a pace to a campaign. Right now, several candidates are focused on winning the straw poll and their pace is frenetic. We’re focused on winning the caucuses, so we’re not on a 20-day barnstorm, but as the caucuses get closer our pace will pick up.” ...read more

Mitt Romney's Iowa Playbook

“We don’t have to be advertising in advance of the straw poll and all throughout the months before the caucuses because we already have very high name ID.... We’ve got a pretty good level of support right now and what we need to do is take the volunteer component of the campaign, give it more energy, bring Gov. Romney back not only for the debate and for the state fair he will be going to, but after that, try and demonstrate we want their support and we need their help.” ...read more

Mitt Romney makes bid official

“Today’s economic news – falling markets brought about by fears of a double-dip recession – is an appropriate backdrop for Mitt Romney’s announcement for president,” said David Kochel, Romney’s Iowa adviser. ...read more

Romney Announces Exploratory Committee

"He has a lot of friends in Iowa he can rely on," said David Kochel, Romney's Iowa adviser. "We're looking forward to getting things started here." ...read more

Romney will compete in Iowa

Romney and his advisers, including Des Moines Romney consultant David Kochel, have said he plans to compete in Iowa. ...read more

Romney touts Branstad as best for job creation and smaller government

“With seven days left, you’ve got to get people’s attention. He wanted to come to Iowa to make sure people are aware of how important this election is” ...read more

GOP Strategist: Huckabee’s Iowa trip damaged his 2012 candidacy

“Maybe Mr. Huckabee shouldn’t be raising money for an organization that says it won’t support the Republican nominee in Iowa” ...read more

Chris Christie’s best shot at the White House is to keep not thinking about it

“You can’t flirt your way into it, like Fred Thompson wanted to. People won’t hand you the nomination, despite all the obvious skills [Christie] has” ...read more

Gibbons’ $161K in 1st Quarter impressive, GOP observers say

“It establishes him as the best-funded candidate in the primary, and that matters a lot. I assume he is going to outpace everyone in total contributions and the number of contributions” ...read more

Redwave designed and produced the winning vote by mail, persuasion and turnout campaigns for the Republican National Committee and scores of county, candidate, and local committees ...read more