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Mitt Romney has a new ad up in Iowa. He makes a clear pitch to be the "change" canidate-- declaring : "Washington politicians in both parties have proven they can't control spending, and they won't control our borders." He concludes with the line: "So come on to Ames. After all, changing America always starts in Iowa." No one should doubt that GOP candidates will be running against Washington and to some degree George Bush himself. At one point Romney seemed to indicate he would scale back efforts in Ames when it was clear his main rivals would not show but now it's clear he is leaving nothing to chance. There are lots of stories of course about how straw poll voters are wined and dined and given freebies to come vote, but that is the nature of the beast. One test of a campaign is how well you organize and work the system. It may not be a "pure" test of your political support but it is a test of the campaigns' operations. Looked at this way it makes sense for Romney to spare no expense.