Amy Walter: “Winning in Iowa proves that you do well among very conservative, evangelical voters. It also shows, as one Iowa veteran has noted, how well a candidate connects at a retail level. But, it simply challenges a candidate’s depth not his/her breadth. In fact, to try and win here, a candidate often has to cater so narrowly to this base that they disqualify themselves from the broader electorate (see, Rick Perry’s anti-gay ad). Winning the infamous GOP straw poll in August is even less determinative. It’s simply a junket for Iowa political operatives and national political reporters looking for a one-stop-shop campaign experience. In fact, if we’ve learned anything over the last few years it’s that the frontrunner in the summer (Hillary Clinton, Michele Bachmann, Howard Dean) is rarely the winner in January.”

The Iowa Republican Party announced that “each member of its central committee has pledged to stay publicly neutral during the 2016 presidential nominating process, part of a broader effort by both parties to restore credibility and import for the first-in-the-nation caucuses,” Politico reports.

“The party’s governing board called the announcement ‘unprecedented’ and said the idea is to convey to every would-be candidate that ‘all are welcome in Iowa’ and that ‘the caucus process will be a fair and impartial one.'”