"Dodd Family Decamps for Iowa"

Chris Cillizza (WaPo):

Reinforcing the import of Iowa to the Democratic presidential race, the family of Democrat Chris Dodd is moving to the state for the duration of the caucus campaign.

Chris and Jackie Clegg Dodd with daughter Grace in a 2004 file photo. (AP)

Jackie Clegg Dodd and the couple's daughters -- Grace, 6, and Christina, 2 -- will move into a rental house in Des Moines this weekend, Iowa campaign spokeswoman Taylor West confirmed today. Clegg Dodd is already in Iowa, where she will speak at the Polk County Democrats annual fall dinner tonight.

"We want our family to be together as we talk to as many caucus-goers across Iowa as possible -- to talk about why Chris is running for President and what separates him from the field," said Clegg Dodd. "Chris and I believe this election won't be won on TV. It will be won around kitchen tables, in firehouses, at backyard cookouts, by neighbors knocking on doors. It will be won face-to-face."

The decision by Dodd's family follows a similar decision by the campaign earlier this month to part with some staff and move the vast majority of those remaining to Iowa for the final stretch drive.

According to West, Dodd now has 72 paid staffers in Iowa and 11 field offices. All of that activity so far has not translated into movement in the Iowa polls. A recent Des Moines Register survey showed Dodd at just 1 percent, the same amount of support longshot Dennis Kucinich garnered.

Dodd's advantage over the other candidates in the second tier is money. He ended September with $3.9 million in the bank, well ahead of Joe Biden -- $1.9 million on hand -- who appears to be the other serious second-tier candidate in the race.

Speaking of Biden, he already has moved the vast majority of his campaign braintrust to the state in hopes that a stronger-than-expected showing will catapult him into contention.

What's the upshot of all of this attention for Iowa caucuses? It's possible that the amount of time and money Dodd and Biden plan to spend in the state could further fracture the vote -- meaning that one of the big 3 of Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama or John Edwards could well win the Democratic caucuses by taking somewhere between 30 and 35 percent of the total vote.

That happened in 2004 when John Kerry won the Democratic caucuses with 38 percent -- one of three candidates to take a double-digit percentage -- and went on to sweep to the nomination.

Given the intense focus on Iowa, Democratic campaigns clearly believe Iowa will once again be the key contest of the nominating calendar. Stay tuned.