Following up to this look over the weekend at the grind of fundraising for local candidate comes an interesting insight into the solicitation of coin on the Presidential trail. This Chicago Tribune profile of Mitt Romney includes an amazing statistic:

"In June alone, Romney is scheduled to hold 65 fundraisers."

Anyone who has worked on major campaign of any size knows that's a brutal pace, though similar no doubt to that which all the major candidates are pursuing.

Related to that Presidential race and the post this morning on Mitt Romney's rise in Iowa and New Hampshire, here's an alternate take that gives more weight to the larger states relatively early in the primary process. It's worth a read, including this graphic, which quickly illustrates how soon a good number of voters will actually have ballots in their hands after the turn of the year.

Lastly, this analysis from Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen of his paper's recent caucus poll is also worth a gander. There's much to chew on, but this part jumped out to me:

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.

Note: if you recognize the name of David Yepsen and know his title off the top of your head then yes, you are a true connoisseur of political news. You, like me, may need to seek professional help.

UPDATE: Romney is up in yet another Iowa poll, again showing significant upward movement in recent weeks, even though the lead isn't large.