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TIME Politics 2016 Election Hillary Clinton Flips a Steak in Iowa Hillary and Bill Clinton cook steaks with Iowa Senator Tom Harken at his annual Steak Fry in Indianola, Iowa, on Sept. 14, 2014 Brooks KraftCorbis for TIME As speculation about 2016 reaches fever pitch, former Secretary of State teases crowd: "Well it is true, I am thinking about it"

Sitting under one of three huge white tents set up in a hot-air balloon field outside of Indianola, Iowa, Bethany Moriarty was digging into a plate of steak. The attraction of a steak fry should ostensibly be the meat, but Moriarty, 30, who has Ready for Hillary buttons festooned across her chest, is hopping with excitement to see former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Im by far the most political person of my family, so I kinda dragged them here, she says, gesturing across the table to her mother, Rosemary, 65, and her sister, Amanda, 35.

Like many other of the 7,000 Iowans whove gathered for Iowa Senator Tom Harkins 37th annual Steak Fry, a Democratic fundraiser that has become known as a presidential launchpad, their main topic of conversation is Clintons potential candidacy in 2016. I caucused for Barack Obama in 2008, Bethany says. A lot was the hype and the hope we felt behind him and I still feel it. But I feel hes been pushed aside.

All three came to the Steak Fry this year to see Clinton speak on her first trip back to Iowa since her 2008 caucus loss. Bethany says shell caucus for Clinton in 2016, if she runs. But Rosemary is dubious. I dont think America is ready, she says. Theres a lot of people who wont vote for her because shes a woman. Like Barack Obama, the first African American, when he got elected, but Congress wouldnt work with him.

Amanda, twirling her fork pensively in her potato salad, chimes in: And if you think that, than there are 100,000 people who think it, she says. Well, if you say that it becomes true, Bethany counters. We have to believe and work to make that not true. Her mother and sister shrug, clearly not moved to action.

Clintons candidacy is still a figment of Bethanys and most of the national medias imagination. But that hasnt stopped widespread speculation that Clintons visit to the Harkin event represents the unofficial kickoff of her 2016 run. Her shadow campaign, Ready for Hillary, has parked a bus emblazoned with its logo outside the Steak Fry and volunteers are waiting five deep to sign up.

The Steak Fry has a carnival-like atmosphere. Iowans in droves wear T-shirts colored for their favorite state and local candidates. By far the most T-shirts are light blue with a simply stated, Ready on them shorthand for Ready for Hillary. Attendees carry coolers of beer and lemonade and lay out blankets on the slightly damp ground. They sing along to Bruce Springsteens Born in the U.S.A., as they wait for the show to begin.

As is his prerogative on his big day, Harkin is keeping his own schedule. He is retiring and this will be his final Steak Fry. The event is a far cry from the 52 people who attended the first one in 1972. The largest year yet, 2007, saw more than 10,000 people arrive to watch Clinton and then rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards. This year, Harkin and the Clintons arrive from a morning event in Des Moines with 450 Harkin donors 20 minutes after the speaking schedule was due to begin. But they take their time, eating lunch, as Harkin always does, before greeting the press and flipping the traditional steak for the assembled cameras. More than 200 reporters from around the world are present to witness potential history.

Are you running? reporters repeatedly shout at Hillary. She demurs. She even pretends not to notice when, the event having finally started down the hill, a speaker starts asking the crowd: Are you fired up? Are you ready to go? Are you ready for Hillary? ARE YOU READY FOR HILLARY? he screams as the crowd roars.

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Hillary Clinton Flips a Steak in Iowa

The eyes of the political world turned to Iowa on Sunday as Hillary Clinton took the stage at the 37th-and-final Harkin Steak Fry, a political cattle-call and Democratic fundraiser spearheaded by longtime Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa.

Clinton, joined onstage by her husband, former President Bill Clinton, began her speech with an ebullient, "I'm baaaack!"

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Hilary Clinton visits the Hawkeye State for the first time since her 2008 presidential campaign, while Vice President Joe Biden will be there nex...

If those watching were hoping that Clinton would take a step closer to confirming a 2016 presidential bid, they were likely disappointed. But that didn't stop the former secretary of state from teasing the audience with the possibility.

"When Tom Harkin called and asked me to come, I have to admit, I wasn't sure what to say. I've got a few things on my mind these days," she said with a knowing grin as the audience laughed and applauded. She mentioned the imminent arrival of her grandchild, and then clearly nodded at the 2016 buzz.

"Then of course there's that other thing," she said. "It is true, I am thinking about it. But for today, that is not why I'm here. I'm here for the steak."

Clinton offered ample praise for President Obama during her speech, dashing speculation that she might use the opportunity to distance herself from the relatively unpopular president.

"When it comes to moving America forward, we know what it takes," she said. "We've seen it. We've seen it in Tom Harkin, we've seen it in Bill Clinton, and we have seen it in Barack Obama."

"Under President Obama's leadership, our country is on the road to recovery," she continued. "Here in Iowa, for example, exports are up. For farmers, they are way up. Unemployment is down....renewable energy production has quadrupled in Iowa, which means more jobs and a cleaner environment."

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At first Iowa event since 2008, Hillary Clinton teases presidential buzz

"It's been seven years, and a lot has changed," Hillary Clinton said Sunday in her first visit to Iowa since the state dealt her presidential campaign a devastating body blow.

But there was a moment in the afternoon when it seemed like not much had.

Roughly 200 credentialed media were gathered in a far corner of the Indianola Balloon Field, the grassy expanse where Sen. Tom Harkin was convening his 37th and final Steak Fry, an annual fundraiser that doubles as a point of entry for ambitious Democrats curious about the Iowa caucuses.

After a 90-minute wait, the press scrum -- scribblers and photographers alike -- were herded like cattle through a series of gates and escorted up to a hot smoking grill, waiting to capture the same image: a staged shot of Bill and Hillary Clinton, fresh out of their motorcade, ritualistically flipping steaks with Harkin.

The Clintons ignored the half-hearted shouted questions from reporters -- "Mr. President, do you eat meat?" -- with practiced ease. They were two football fields away from the nearest voter. Mechanical, distant, heavy-handed: The afternoon spectacle felt a lot like Hillary's 2008 caucus campaign, a succession of errors that crumbled under the weight of a feuding top-heavy staff and the candidate's inability to connect with her party's grassroots.

And then the head fake -- and something different.

After a few minutes, the Clintons walked into a nearby barn, out of view. Most of the media swarm gave up and hustled back to the main event, where nearly 7,000 Democrats were eating red meat and waiting patiently in the sunshine to hear from two of the most famous people in the world.

A few dozen press were still milling about when the duo re-emerged. "There she is!" a television reporter screamed, clamoring for her cameraman.

An early moment of engagement

There she was. Bill, too, walking along a fence and gabbing with a small army of political reporters, a chore that has never come easy for Hillary Clinton, and one she has assiduously avoided since leaving the State Department.

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Hillary Clinton in Iowa: Fresh start or deja vu?

When Hillary Rodham Clinton finished third in Iowa during the 2008 presidential race, voters' post-game analysis couldnt have been clearer. She didnt spend enough time in the Hawkeye State. She didnt bond with Iowans. She was the imperial candidate.

Returning to Iowa for the first time Sunday after that excruciating loss, Clinton seemed to have taken those lessons to heart.

After her speech at retiring Sen. Tom Harkin's annual steak fry, Clinton patiently worked the rope line for more than half an hour warmly shaking hands, signing copies of her book and chatting with voters about her soon-to-arrive grandchild.

God bless you, she said repeatedly as voters strained to shake her hand.

She was as circumspect as always about her 2016 plans, but gamely fielded pleas to run.

Youre going to be a great grandma and great president, one fan told her.

Were so ready, a young woman told her moments later.

Thank you very much! Clinton replied brightly, as her interactions with voters were captured by a CSPAN boom microphone towering over the crowd.

Surrounded by Secret Service agents and aides, Clinton worked the rope line Sunday side by side with husband Bill Clinton, who wore a red-and-white gingham shirt that she gave him. Not surprisingly, the former first lady moved more briskly down the line than her garrulous husband, who at one point engaged in a lengthy discussion with a voter about his efforts to foster peace between the Israelis and Palestinians.

The former secretary of State greeted old friends and volunteers from her husbands campaigns and her own.

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From imperial to accessible, Hillary Clinton works the rope line

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