If you stand up for me for one night – I’ll stand up for you every day as your president.
After nearly a year of criss-crossing the state and talking with Iowans about her vision for change, Hillary made her closing argument in a televised appeal tonight that directly addresses the central question on the minds of caucus-goers. I thought folks might like to see what she had to say, and get a feel for what’s happening with her campaign in these final hours before the caucuses begin. I’ve been getting some reports from friends on the ground out there, and people have been sending me links to local Iowa papers as well.
Her two-minute pitch CROSSROADS follows. Take a look...
Make the jump – there’s more...
Note: Hillary’s still talking about bringing our troops home to their families & mentions this goal twice in this message. She’s got a plan to bring them home swiftly and safely, and will be ready to put it into action on day one.
One other thing out of the campaign today... they’ve just put out a new ad which will be running up in New Hampshire called Best Choices. This ad highlights recent newspaper endorsements from across New Hampshire. Over the past two weeks, Hillary has earned the endorsements of key newspapers across the Granite State, including 11 Salmon Press weekly papers, Foster's Daily Democrat and Laconia Citizen, four Cabinet Press weekly papers, the Keene Sentinel and the Concord Monitor. All agree that she is the right candidate to tackle our country's toughest challenges starting on day one. Take a look...
A friend of mine has family out in Iowa and he sent me the link to a local paper. Here’s a report from Council Bluffs Iowa
And if it snows on caucus night, here's Hillary Clinton's secret weapon: a stack of shovels delivered to her Council Bluffs headquarters. A "Blizzard Brigade" of volunteers is prepared to dig people out if necessary to get them to Thursday's caucuses.
In Iowa, the first test of the 2008 presidential campaign, nothing is more powerful than what neighbor tells neighbor about the presidential candidates.
"This feels more like a local election than any campaign I've ever worked," said Megan Wilbur, Clinton's regional field director. "We love our volunteers. We can't do it without them."
Real commitment is required by the Iowa volunteers. They do more than go to rallies and pass out literature.
They make the calls, pound the signs, organize their friends and work the caucuses.
Rosa Wall of Council Bluffs volunteered for the Clinton campaign as a way of showing gratitude.
Wall, 51, recalled her days as a migrant worker minding the onion fields and tomato patches in Arkansas when Clinton was the state's first lady.
"She helped my kids go to school and bought them clothing," Wall said. "She's a good advocate for children."
Now Wall is a good advocate for Hillary. She was out last weekend putting up Clinton signs in her west Council Bluffs neighborhood. Wall won a commitment from Pat Ferretti to show up at the caucuses and to bring a neighbor, a niece and her daughter.
Wall's own car will be full. She will bring to her caucus four elderly neighbors who no longer drive at night.
And earlier today the Des Moines Register published an article on Hillary’s ground game in Iowa...
Council Bluffs, Ia. - Door knockers will hit the house of every Iowan who has declared strong support for Democrat Hillary Clinton within the next day or so, according to her campaign staff.
“It’s thousands and thousands and thousands of people,” he said. “We’ve found that phones just aren’t working any more. Everyone’s connection rate over the phone is really low. People are telling us they’re getting 10 and 15 calls a night.”
Over 60 percent of the Clinton campaign’s 1s and 2s have never caucused before. They believe their list of strong supporters is longer than the campaigns of Obama and John Edwards. “As far as we can tell, it’s way more than everyone else,” Carson said.
The Clinton campaign has ideas for counteracting the “flake rate” - flaking means blowing off the caucus. They are arranging for rides and catering food at the sites. If they notice a supporter isn’t there, they’ll go pick him or her up, officials said.
Clinton's campaign has rented SUVs to make sure volunteers can get through any snow that falls Thursday night.
Speaking of door-knockers... Over 50 Marylanders have traveled out to Iowa with our good Governor – Martin O’Malley. Regular folks like me, and also quite a few elected officials in our state – busy knocking on doors, making phone calls, and helping to get out the vote for Hillary. I got the following emails from a friend of mine who’s out in Cedar Rapids this week. Check it out...
From Sunday December 30th
OK Team, here's some thoughts from Iowa today... Envision Mary Boergers [former MD State Senator & Democratic candidate for Governor], Nancy Floreen [County Council Member], and me all in one, normal-sized hotel room. Three sets of luggage, clothing, toiletries, etc. The housekeeping staff is being remarkably cooperative with our requests. We're having a blast, working to make a difference out here!
Cheryl...
It's Sunday night before Thursday's caucuses, and everything is busy & exciting here in Iowa!
There are almost 50 Marylanders here for Hillary. We're mostly Montgomery County & the Baltimore area, but we also have representation from Frederick, Anne Arundel, etc. Our group is diverse by age, race, gender, and political experience. We're united by our passion to elect the most qualified candidate who can hit the ground running on Day One, ready to fix what this Bush administration has wrecked during his tenure.
This morning, we received training in canvassing. Yup on a day the TV weather forecaster predicted that it would be a "cool 9 degrees", we were out, knocking on doors! My partner is a lovely young woman who works at Planned Parenthood in DC. We made a great team as we hit our doors, looking to lock in commitments for Clinton supporters to attend their local caucuses this Thursday night.
Surprisingly, our briefings about what to expect out in the field were accurate. Iowans are NOT yet sick of talking about the election. They invite you into their living room and want to talk for 15 or 20 minutes! How likely is that to happen in too many other places?? Not! Yes, they have a disproportionate influence on the process. But they are aware of that and take it quite seriously.
After a group dinner at "The Irish Democrat"—a perfect place to eat in honor of our Governor—we dashed over to headquarters for a "Mock Caucus." Despite all the briefings, it was interesting to experience the faux-reality of dividing among candidates Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington, FDR, and Truman. We Truman folks were able to pick up several votes from the "non-viable" candidacies of Washington & Jefferson. Between the math, the arcane rules, and the lobbying, it got complicated and loud.
Ultimately, you'll be pleased to know that Truman got 1 delegate vote out of the caucuses. (Let's hope Hillary does a ton better this week!)
Tomorrow will be another long day, possibly culminating with a New Year's Eve party in Des Moines with both Clintons. I'm not likely to write tomorrow, so let me wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR!! May 2008 bring us a more peaceful world, happy and healthy lives, and a (particular) Democrat elected to the White House!
Hugs from "cool" Cedar Rapids... and without feeling in my fingers or toes,
Cheryl
(Identifiers re Mary & Nancy were my additions)
And from Tuesday, January 1st...
Here's the latest missive I sent out to a few hundred friends and colleagues. Both my roomies got injured today. Mary Boergers got attacked by an aggressive screen door, and Nancy Floreen had a less-than-friendly meeting with an Iowa pooch. Here's to safer campaigning tomorrow!
Cheryl...
So... there are just two days to go before the Iowa caucuses, and we are working our tails off for Hillary in Cedar Rapids. More Marylanders seem to arrive daily, infusing a great new energy to the second-largest city in the state.
Remember my last missive, when I commented on the 9 degree weather being described by the forecaster as "cool?" Now I get it! Today was 2... and with wind chill factor, it is now NEGATIVE 19 degrees. Long underwear and lots of gloves, socks, etc are worn without regard for what we look like. It's too freakin' cold to care about making fashion statements!
With weather like this, we are especially grateful for the warmth of the local voters. They invite us into their (heated) homes, rescuing us from the winds and biting cold. It's remarkable how friendly these prospective caucus-goers are, despite the barrage of television ads, robo calls, mailers, and canvassers. Today, my canvassing partner was a young Clinton campaign staffer. Samantha's intimate knowledge of the precinct made for less meandering than normal.
Our assigned precinct included a mix of upper-middle income folks and seniors living in retirement homes. Seniors, especially older women, are just tickled to have the opportunity to come out to help Hillary's candidacy! Even in their mid-80s and using a walker, they are totally motivated to go to their caucuses. Other supporters are men and women in our age bracket (let's say 35-55) who appreciate both Senator Clinton's experience and relationships around the world as well as Bill Clinton's record of leadership.
Many of the caucus-goers will be participating for the very first time. I'd be pretty surprised if the turnout isn't dramatically higher than in the past. What's fun is that everyone here is a political insider. In DC/Maryland, either you're "in" or you're "out" (paraphrasing Heidi Klum on Project Runway). Here, everyone's involved and aware. The surprising conversations are with those who are still undecided. They've met each candidate a couple of times, have had policy chats, and they're still stymied. This isn't exactly what we're used to back home...
I've run into a few colleagues from past political campaigns, who (like me) have all converged on these poor defenseless Iowans. Tonight after getting back to HQ, I saw an older woman I knew I had worked with in the past. It didn't take long for me to identify Emily & her daughter Mary as colleagues from the Cranston for President campaign in 1984! It's bizarre to think that some of the young Clinton staffers weren't even born yet when we were trying to elect Alan Cranston!
Tomorrow, Hillary Clinton is coming to Cedar Rapids. That should mean door knocking in the morning and afternoon, but with a break in the middle to be indoors, cheering her on.
That's all for now. It's tiring to be hustling around in sub-zero temperatures. Here's to a mug of hot tea and a warm bed.
More soon.
And one more video from one of Hillary’s campaign stops yesterday...
LATE DECIDERS
Hey better late than never right?
GO HILLARY!
Don't forget folks HILLARY WILL BE ON LETTERMAN TONIGHT!
One last thing - Rhoda Mae (from DailyKos) gives us one more update from Hillary's event in Cedar Rapids today (which my good friends from Maryland were most likely at)...
My family attended Hillary's event today
in Cedar Rapids. I just got off the phone with them for the scoop: They said the spirit of the audience was amazing. They sat between an undecided voter on one side, and an Obama leaner on the other. At the end of the event, the undecided voter decided for Hillary, and the Obama leaner is now leaning Hillary! They said there were many others who said they were undecided and are now chosing to support Hillary. My sister gave her prediction for tomorrow: She thinks Hillary will win, at least in her area. She said support for Hillary is broad and growing where she is. She saw the 2 minute video ad and said that she loved it, and thought it could potentially sway voters back to Hillary because she came across as a leader ready to win in November.
Tomorrow she has taken off work and will work on phoning voters, and before the caucus she will be picking up three voters who are unable to drive themselves to caucus!
To Rhoda Mae's family if they ever read this I've just got one things to say...
Y E A H !!!!
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