We're still 22 months or so from the first nominating contest of the 2012 presidential campaign, but Politico is already trying to game out likely GOP contender Mitt Romney's chances in the Iowa caucuses, wondering if the former Massachusetts governor should just skip Iowa, given how poorly he performed there in 2008. They've dubbed it the "Romney riddle." Should Mitt try for Iowa and risk losing again to an underfunded dark horse like Mike Huckabee? Or should he just pay lip service to the Hawkeye State and focus on later primaries, hoping that the winner of Iowa won't get too much momentum?

At first glance, it seems like quite the pickle. But the Politico has forgotten the third available option, one that actually played out in 2008 -- the “Giuliani 'Strategy.' ”

The “Giuliani 'Strategy' ” entails spending a lot of money and trying really hard to win Iowa, performing abysmally at the caucuses, and then relying on the media to tell everyone that Iowa was never part of your “strategy” and that you never really tried to win there. It's an attractive option for Republican candidates because all it requires is a political press that has a nagging habit of presenting everything that happens in electoral politics as good news for Republicans.