Mitt Romney: I’m playing for first

Mitt Romney said Wednesday he is playing for first place in Iowa, abandoning attempts to downplay his efforts in the state.

Asked Wednesday whether a second-place finish behind Ron Paul could be considered a win, Romney simply replied “Uh, no.”

Romney said he had the momentum and sounded a confident note about his campaign in the Hawkeye State, where campaign events have had over-capacity crowds the last few days. 

{mosads}”The numbers that are showing up are a lot more than we’d expected. And their level of excitement and enthusiasm and their willingness to caucus on my behalf is encouraging,” he said, according to CNN. “So the response I’m getting is really quite heartening.”

That is a major departure for a candidate whose team has long argued was unlikely to win the state and had done little to invest there. After spending heavily in Iowa in the 2008 presidential contest, Romney was upset by former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R), which badly damaged his campaign going forward. This cycle he has spent very little time in the state. But that’s changed in the last month, as he’s seen an opening there and the Jan. 3 caucuses approach.

Now Romney seems less interested in managing expectations than in going for the win. If he can win Iowa and New Hampshire, where he is the clear front-runner, he could wrap up the nomination quickly. But, if he underperforms his newly raised expectations in Iowa, that could give him headaches down the road.