Halperin's Take

Brandstad is belatedly getting in the game publicly to try to make sure that Iowa gets its full measure of national media attention for the caucuses. His hand-picked party chairman has been doing some of that lifting, but only the governor can extract the pounds and pounds of flesh required to avoid a dilution of influence. The Iowa-New Hampshire first-in-the-nation coalition that has been formidable in the past is in tatters.