Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad (R) and his team “are hiring campaign staff, opening a campaign headquarters and fundraising in earnest,” the Des Moines Register reports.

“It’s the unofficial flipping of the switch, and it means ‘game on’ for 2014 – even though the Republican governor says he won’t publicly state for certain until next year whether or not he’s seeking re-election.”

Said Branstad adviser Doug Gross: “It will be easier for the Cubs to win the World Series than for a Democrat to beat Branstad. That being said, I expect him to run like he is 20 points behind.”

Huffington Post: “Over the Christmas break of 2010, Mitt Romney and his family took an internal poll on whether he should run for president once more. Twelve family members cast ballots. Ten said no. One of the 10 was Mitt Romney himself.”

“The doubts that the former Massachusetts governor harbored before ultimately launching his second unsuccessful bid for the presidency are one of several attention-grabbing details in Collision 2012, the newest book on the 2012 campaign.”

It’s a must-read book.

Politico: “Democrats openly describe their surprise at seeing such consensus around a candidate so early. The hope of retaining the White House in an open-seat election is very real — and the letdown that will set in among Democratic activists and operatives will be very deep if Clinton takes a pass on a campaign, as she may well do.”

“She has said she has yet to make up her mind, but few in the party believe that. The Clintons’ ambition and the chance to make history as the first female president, they figure, will overpower any reticence about another grueling campaign or spending her golden years carrying the burdens of the world’s weightiest job.”

“But if they’re wrong, there is no obvious replacement. And the party would be looking at a mad scramble to fill the Clinton void.”

Harry Enten looks at the challenge facing Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) as she attempts to unseat Sen. Mitch McConnell (R).

“Since 1982, when the new wave of polarization took hold, there have been eight midterm elections. These make for some daunting numbers for Grimes, on three counts: 1). McConnell is running when the other party controls the White House. The opposition party successfully defended 18 of 19 seats in 1982; 11 of 12 in 1986; 17 of 17 in 1990; 13 of 13 in 1994; 13 of 16 in 1998; 11 of 14 in 2002; 16 for 16 in 2006; and 18 for 18 in 2010. That’s just eight out of 125 races, or 6%, when a seat has flipped to the White House party in a midterm. Most of those were when the president had an approval rating well into the 60s. Obama’s approval rating right now is in the mid 40s.”

The Fix: “This will be the nastiest race in the country.”

Kentucky Secretary Of State Alison Lundergan Grimes (D) will run against Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in next year’s U.S. Senate election, WLEX-TV reports.

“Grimes is thought to be the Democrats’ best hope of unseating McConnell, the Senate Republican Leader. Grimes had been considering whether to throw her hat into the race for the past several months.”

Ryan Alessi of c|n2 reports Grimes told supporters that she intends to run for U.S. Senate.

Update: The Lexington Herald Leader has coverage of her announcement.

Matt Lewis asked Ronald Reagan biographer Craig Shirley to shed some light on “how the age issue really impacted Reagan’s candidacy — and what lessons Republicans might learn as it pertains to Hillary Clinton.”

Said Shirley: “It was only after Reagan took control of his own campaign and went out on the road, endlessly campaigning, saying interesting and compelling things, taking it to George H. W. Bush in the primaries and then to Carter in the summer and fall, was it banished.”