Throughout the campaign we will be monitoring politifact as a tool for fact checking the candidates. In the past few days, Trump’s “pants on fire” rating has attracted national attention. Here’s an example-

http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/nov/22/donald-trump/fact-checking-trumps-claim-thousands-new-jersey-ch/

While the winner of the Iowa Caucus doesn’t always go on to win their party’s nomination, there are many reasons the candidates put so much effort into campaigning in Iowa.   According to an article in the Los Angeles Times, the most important reason is that the winner of the Caucus gets a significant boost going forward.   And more than anything, Iowa becomes a critical first test – where losers often have to go home!

Here’s a link to the article.

I was very surprised to see that Mitt tops the NH Republican primary polls even though he is not a candidate!

According to the Boston Globe, “If the former Massachusetts governor were added to the mix of the 14 other Republican candidates running in the Feb. 9 first-in-the-nation presidential primary, New Hampshire voters would, if the election were held now, give him a 2-to-1 win over Trump, the leader of the field.”

“Ben Carson is defying Iowa caucus logic. He has visited the state on just two days over the last two months and doesn’t intend to return until nearly a month from now. Yet he is leading in the polls here — and nationally.” (NBC News)

All previous models of Iowa campaigning emphasize how essential it is for candidates to spend lots of time in Iowa’s 99 counties.