This year, there are no commercials, no bulging payroll and no headquarters at all. And he has yet to signal whether he will treat Iowa with deference (as he did in 2008) or indifference (as some advisers have urged him to do).

That is part of the expectations game for Mr. Romney, a tricky calibration of not-too-high or not-too-low anticipation for how he should approach the Iowa caucuses, whose outcome will help set the tone for the rest of the party?s nominating contest.

But as Mr. Romney arrives here on Friday for his first time this year, for three public events and many more private meetings, the evidence suggests that he is leaning against a strategy of bypassing Iowa. He is the only candidate with a network of supporters in all 99 counties, many of whom say they have received calls from Mr. Romney?s aides in recent days.

?We?ve got a lot of friends here, a lot of support here,? said David Kochel, a veteran strategist in Iowa, who is Mr. Romney?s top adviser here. ?We want to reach out to the people who were with us last time and invite them back to the campaign. But we?re not going to run the same campaign we ran last time.?

The prospecting visit by Mr. Romney highlights the shifting contours of the Republican field and the myriad paths of trying to win the nomination in a campaign that remains awash in uncertainty.

While he received a measure of clarity when Gov. Mitch Daniels of Indiana and former Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas said they would stay out of the race, new questions were raised on Thursday by Sarah Palin?s signal that she is still weighing a presidential run.

?It?s a wide-open situation here as far as I can see,? said Gov. Terry E. Branstad of Iowa, who spoke to Mr. Romney by telephone this week, urging him to come to the state and focus on economic issues. ?There are some concerns about the health care issue ? I think he has to answer those ? but he?s got to come here and spend some time and share his vision with people.?

On the eve of his arrival here, Mr. Romney announced that he would formally declare his candidacy next week in New Hampshire, the state that is critical to his strategy.

He has told friends that he felt burned by the process in Iowa four years ago. He invested $10 million and finished second in the caucuses to Mr. Huckabee, who spent a sliver of that amount. Mr. Romney also struggled to connect with religious conservatives and often spent more time trying to convince people that his rightward-shifting positions on abortion and gay rights were changes of heart rather than decisions of political expediency.

Still, Mr. Romney won 30,021 votes, or 25 percent. And when adding up the results of the other defeated candidates, Senator John McCain, former Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York, about 55 percent of the voters supported someone other than a religious conservative.

?There?s a real opportunity for him to grab the establishment Republican vote ? 35 or 45 percent of the people are really looking for a place to go,? said Doug Gross, the Iowa chairman of the Romney campaign in 2008, who remains uncommitted. ?I haven?t come to the conclusion that I think he can win, but he could run a good solid campaign here.?

In the opening stages of the presidential race here, a heavy focus has been placed on social issues, including the Iowa Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage. The forums for candidates have been sponsored by religious groups, but a coalition of business leaders came together to host a lecture series to focus on the economy that Mr. Romney is attending Friday.

Yet Mr. Romney is hardly the only candidate chasing the establishment Republican vote.