Iowa becomes center stage in Dem slugfest
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By Ed Tibbetts | Monday, January 22, 2007 |
U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s announcement that she will run for president in 2008 formalizes what most Iowa activists have been expecting — a battle royal for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination that will put them in the front seat.
“I’m in and I’m in to win,” the former first lady said in a statement on her Web site Saturday morning. Her announcement was expected and in Iowa, the site of the first-in-the-nation caucuses, it set up the prospect of some of the party’s biggest luminaries crossing the state’s byways over the next year.
“It’ll be a Titanic battle,” former state party chairman Dave Nagle said.
Clinton, who is in her second term as a senator from New York, announced Saturday that she would form an exploratory committee. Her statement made it clear, however, that she is in the race. Lorraine Voles, a spokesperson, said she’s planning a trip to Iowa next weekend but details haven’t been worked out yet.
The former first lady, who grew up in Illinois, has formidable backing in national political circles, but she hasn’t spent the time in Iowa that rivals, such as John Edwards — who was in Iowa City on Saturday — have. Even U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., who launched his own exploratory committee Tuesday, came here during the 2006 elections to campaign on behalf of fellow Democrats.
Early polls in Iowa have also shown Clinton trailing others.
Still, Clinton is well known, ranks highly in national polls and has formidable financial resources. She’s also won praise for her diligence in the Senate.
The Clinton camp is already addressing electability concerns, in the early states and nationwide. Her favorability numbers have jumped and she beats potential Republican nominees in recent theoretical matchups, strategist Mark Penn said in a memo posted on Clinton’s Web page Saturday. Penn also noted the poll results in Iowa and New Hampshire, but said: “The polls in these states are famous for turning around many times as voters get to know the candidates up close.”
Indeed, Iowans tend to make up their minds late in the process, something many longtime activists believe will be the case this campaign cycle, too.
Clinton said on her Web site that she will begin to reach out to voters, and it will begin with three consecutive days of live video Webcasts beginning at 6 p.m. Monday. The second Webcast, notably, will come on the same night as President Bush’s State of the Union address. Clinton criticized Bush’s six years in office in her announcement Saturday.
Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack was the first Democrat to announce a candidacy. Others who are in, or are expected to join the Democratic race are: Obama, Edwards, U.S. Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Joe Biden, D-Delaware, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Ed Tibbetts can be contacted at (563) 383-2327 or etibbetts@qctimes.com.
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