Hillary Clinton starts small in Iowa as her vast national network whirs to life
DES MOINES On the surface, Hillary Rodham Clinton is starting her presidential run small. Shes being driven halfway across the country in what shes dubbed her Scooby Doo van, getting out at diners and gas stations to chat with people. She plans an intimate listening tour with everyday Americans, beginning Tuesday in the town of Monticello, Iowa.
Behind the scenes, however, the vast network Hillary and Bill Clinton have cultivated over four decades in politics is whirring back to life to build a behemoth ready to last far beyond the Democratic primaries. It will be the largest operation ever mustered by the Clintons, designed to compete in what is expected to be the most expensive presidential election in U.S. history.
Theres going to be a juggernaut, said John Morgan, a Clinton supporter and fundraiser in Florida. This is straight to the World Series no spring training, no regular league play, no wild card games.
Already, an overwhelming amount of money has come in via the campaign Web site, according to a person familiar with the online response.
Still, the Clinton team says their mantra is: Take nothing for granted. Her campaign advisers say they anticipate a competitive Democratic nominating contest and that she will fight to earn every vote especially here in Iowa, whose quadrennial first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses have humbled many front-runners, including Clinton in 2008.
Yet most Democrats see Clinton, in the absence of a strong challenger, as their inevitable nominee. So it was that on Day One, Clintons campaign and its allies turned to building up an infrastructure for what promises to be a long, costly and bruising journey to the White House.
The nascent Clinton team is laboring to assemble a grass-roots political organization on the ground in all 50 states by next month, when she will formally kick off her campaign with her first rally and major speech.
Clintons activity and footprint will be particularly robust in Iowa, also a general election swing state. Aides said she plans to help rebuild the beleaguered Democratic Party here, including recruiting candidates to run for local offices like school board and growing a corps of volunteers to help in the general election.
Campaign officials asked governors, senators and other elected officials to not simply issue endorsements many did so immediately but to send e-mails and other messages that could mobilize their own volunteers and constituents behind Clintons candidacy. In a Sunday memo, the campaign composed suggested tweets for elected officials to send, sharing her announcement video and inviting them to sign up with her campaign.
Campaign chairman John Podesta and finance director Dennis Cheng began to activate Clintons donor network with e-mails Sunday, followed by calls from regional fundraisers to bundlers across the country. Each was given an individual fundraising goal.
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Hillary Clinton starts small in Iowa as her vast national network whirs to life