Mitt Romney's campaign may become a bit more active in Iowa, but they may not be playing to win there.

Real Clear Politics says Romney's campaign plans to play defense in the Hawkeye State ahead of the Iowa Caucuses.

Why not make more of an effort? As one Romney strategist put it, “Our strategy doesn’t require us to win Iowa. It would be nice, but it’s not necessary.”

Campaigning in Iowa more vigorously might indeed pay off with a win -- and effectively wrap up the GOP nominating fight just as it gets started, but it would also set off a rise in the Iowa expectations game that the national front-runner’s campaign has done a masterful job of downplaying.

“The Romney team wisely understands that anyone coming out of Iowa will do so with a rocket booster, so by spending additional time here and improving their own prospects, they are able to limit how much fuel those rockets get,” said Tim Albrecht, who was Romney’s 2008 Iowa press secretary before becoming Gov. Terry Branstad’s communications director.

By continuing to play defense in Iowa, the campaign hopes to limit the chances that they will suddenly find themselves on the defensive everywhere else.