And Keep 'Em Coming

"You lose the expectation battle in this state, it's not good news" -- Des Moines Register's David Yepsen, on Mitt Romney's 2nd place finish in IA (FNC).

Romney spokesperson Kevin Madden: "We're playing chess. Everybody else is playing checkers" ("The Trail").

Huckabee chair Ed Rollins said the people of IA showed they wanted change. Rollins: "I think Obama was the candidate of change and we were the candidate of change" (CNN).

"It's a strong night for us. ... Obama deserves credit, but we hung in there. Clinton doesn't have a lot to talk about" -- John Edwards adviser Joe Trippi (MSNBC).

"John Edwards has nowhere to go now ... even with a second place win because he has no money" -- ex-WH adviser David Gergen (CNN).

Freudian Slip?: On FNC, Carl Cameron just called Brit Hume "Mitt."

Meanwhile, "things are dismal and largely empty at the Ron Paul party at the Marriott in downtown Des Moines." ABC News' Z. Byron Wolf writes: "A waste of the open bar if you were wondering where some of that $20 million is going" ("Political Radar").

And NBC's David Gregory said the only Chris Dodd supporter he saw was Dodd's "buddy from New York" (MSNBC).