Sure, it's so cold that I think the inside of my face is chapped, but it's a beautiful day in Des Moines—sunny, crisp, no snow on the ground. It'll be interesting to see how caucus attendance turns out tonight. Ordinarily, Iowans have to caucus in the middle of a blizzard, so I'd expect a high turnout. If attendance is down or even with the average, that means the Republican base is not enthusiastic about their options.

Something I did not expect about Iowa: On my three-mile hike to downtown from my flophouse, I saw not one yard sign promoting a candidate. Neither did I see a single bumper sticker. I half-expected something resembling the Republican Convention floor all over the city, but if you didn't pay attention to the news, it could be just any old Tuesday in Iowa. I have heard a couple of radio ads, both for Michele Bachmann, but if you keep the TVs, computers, and radios off, everything seems positively normal.