There's talk now that, thanks to South Carolina pushing its
primary back and New Hampshire doing the same in response, the Iowa
caucuses could come as early as mid-December. (I discuss this a bit
in my Brainwash column today,
which also includes musings on Ames and interest group candidate
forums.) The whole point of states' insistence on holding their
nomination contests early is to heighten their importance. But
mightn't this strategy have diminishing returns? Much of the press
goes quiet from Christmas to New Years, after all; it seems like
the break in coverage could greatly dilute whatever momentum a
candidate gets from winning in Iowa.