And retail politics is alive and well in both places, with the candidates investing remarkable amounts of time on the ground. But one of the other prime attractions of Iowa and New Hampshire - one that politicians rarely discuss - is the relatively low cost of airing television commercials.
This year, more than ever, several candidates in both parties have been advertising early and often, starting with Romney. He went on the air here in February and has never gone off.
The Democrats have done their part as well.
"Barack Obama and Bill Richardson have spent more on TV in Iowa at this point than John Kerry did in all of 2003 and 2004," said Evan Tracey of the Virginia-based Campaign Media Analysis Group. "Hillary Clinton will pass Kerry shortly. Politics is about rerunning the last campaign, adjusted for inflation."
Voters have noticed, and some are not pleased.
"We've been bombarded to the point that people are tuning it out already, which isn't helpful to the cause of democracy," said Joel Dinger, a high school teacher in Independence, Iowa.
This week, nearly three months before the first-in-the-nation caucuses here, television viewers were seeing one ad showing Romney talking about the need for Republicans to change their party, another promoting Clinton's commitment to fight for health care, a third portraying Obama as a new leader of sound judgment.
Thus far, Romney has spent nearly $8 million nationwide, most of it in Iowa and New Hampshire, according to Tracey's group.
"Television put Romney on the map out here," said Dennis Goldford, a political scientist at Drake University. "Nobody in Iowa knew from Romney at all."
For the most part, the other Republicans have let the former Massachusetts governor have TV in Iowa and New Hampshire to himself - one possible reason he is ahead in both places.
