David Yepsen of the Des Moines Register has for years been the go-to journalist when the national media want to understand Iowa caucus politics. He rarely disappoints. In his latest piece, Yepsen observes the strong Iowa poll numbers for John Edwards and Mitt Romney and their implications for Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani — which aren’t all negative (our old friend, the expectations game, makes its 2008 appearance).

Here’s a sampling:

The polls also indicate some of the national story lines are having little impact on caucus-goers. In the national media, there’s been much talk about Edwards’ wealth, expensive haircuts or part-time job at a hedge fund. None of it seems to be hurting him with Hawkeye Democrats. He’s organized well, spends lots of time here and has combined a strong anti-war message with one of economic populism.
On the GOP side, all the yammering about Romney’s Mormon religious faith being a liability appears to be more of an obsession with the political community than it is to caucus-goers. The same is true of all the talk about his flip flopping or changing his position on issues. Like Edwards, Romney has organized well and spent lots of time here. He combines an upbeat message with an executive persona.

There’s another point to consider about all this, a point that Yepsen may not be in the best position to make: Giuliani at least, and possibly Clinton too, may well just cede Iowa and argue that the new primary calendar makes it relatively unimportant. The Giuliani camp seems to believe that a strong win in big-state Florida in late January would be a sufficient recovery if Romney won Iowa and New Hampshire, and John McCain, perhaps, won South Carolina.