In Race for Iowa, Clinton Has to Make Up Ground

The previous time Clinton appeared in Iowa was November 2003, when she served as emcee at a state Democratic fundraising dinner featuring the party's 2004 presidential candidates.

She did not campaign in the state last year during her reelection campaign in New York, choosing to avoid any indications that she already had her eye on the presidency.

Former president Bill Clinton was the keynote speaker at a Democratic Party dinner in October, a few weeks before the midterm elections, but though he is very popular among rank-and-file activists, neither he nor Sen. Clinton has spent much time campaigning in Iowa living rooms over the years.

Bill Clinton essentially wrote off Iowa in 1992 because Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) was a presidential candidate that year, and in 1996 because Clinton faced no primary opposition in his reelection campaign.

Sen. Clinton is just beginning to put an organization in place and to attract endorsements. She named JoDee Winterhof, a former top adviser to Harkin, as her Iowa state director on Friday. Former Iowa attorney general Bonnie Campbell is heavily involved as a non-paid adviser and supporter. Another veteran of Harkin's staff, Lorraine Voles, serves as Clinton's Senate communications director.

But other Iowa veterans are already signed up elsewhere, including David Plouffe, a former Harkin acolyte who is running the Obama campaign.

Vilsack's presence in the race complicates the efforts of all candidates to line up endorsements from top elected officials in the state, but there is a scramble underway for the backing of state legislators and county officials. "With Hillary in the race, with Obama in the race, Iowa politicians are pretty smart about this process," said a party official who spoke about the competition on the condition of anonymity. "I think they're going to keep their powder dry and see how it's playing out."

Obama's appearance at an annual steak fry hosted by Harkin last fall helped touch off interest in Obama's presidential bid. The Clinton campaign regards him as a candidate who has enormous potential appeal but who is untested in the rigors of national campaigns.

Edwards, who finished second in the 2004 caucuses, has been to Iowa 17 times since the beginning of 2005, maintaining his network of supporters. None of the other Democrats underestimates his strength in the state, although several strategists in Iowa say he may have trouble holding his position over the course of the year.

"John Edwards has been out there a lot, and he ran before, and since that time he's been cultivating people, meeting them in living rooms, signing up people, and that means a lot," said Harkin, who is supporting Vilsack.

"And then Barack Obama, when he came to my steak fry -- I haven't seen anything like that since Robert Kennedy ran for president."