Posted on 01/27/2007 2:48:08 AM PST by MadIvan
Forget the glitzy Hollywood fundraisers and the big-money donors in Manhattan.
To win the White House, Senator Hillary Clinton needs to sit down in the diners of the frozen flatlands of Iowa and, over coffee and buttered pancakes, persuade folks that she understands them.
It will be a hard sell. But Iowa holds the first presidential caucuses, considered a crucial test of popularity, and she arrives here today.
In a local poll this week, she was placed fourth for the Democratic nomination.
The breakfast crowd in the 1950s-style Drake Diner in Des Moines, where Mrs Clinton stopped for a chocolate malt three years ago on her last visit to the state, doubt that she can close the gap.
"I just don't know if the US is ready for a woman president," said Genelle Chladek, who waited on Mrs Clinton then and remembers a "very gracious" tip. "I'm just impressed a woman would make the move but there's a fear factor."
There is a question over whether Mrs Clinton has the common touch. "She came in with the Secret Service and about six others," said Mrs Chladek. "She sat way inside the booth as kind of a protection manoeuvre, though she did visit people as she left."
A stop at the diner is a rite of passage for candidates. "People grill 'em when they come in here," said Shannon Traczyk, the manager. "It's fun to watch.
"The east and west coasts are more corporate and intellectual. Here, it's the heartland."
Iowa, a farm state that produces much of America's corn and pork, is sparsely populated and has never elected a woman to Congress or as governor. "In politics, you have show horses and work horses," said Rick Schulenburg, 58, who, like many Iowans, looks at the candidates as if judging an agricultural contest. "Hillary is more of a show horse. She puts her finger in the wind, sees which way it's blowing and that's the position she takes."
John Edwards, a former senator who just missed becoming vice-president in 2004, has visited Iowa 17 times since the last election. He leads the local polls, ahead of Senator Barack Obama.
Both want immediate troop withdrawals from Iraq, while Mrs Clinton's stance is more cautious. Her initial support for a now deeply unpopular war could cost her dearly.
"I don't know if people will vote for Hillary – I hear mixed opinions," said Miss Traczyk, who recalled that the last time Mr Edwards was in he took a "to go" meal. "If she comes in and starts talking to people we'll get a better sense of who she is. But she's a star, a celebrity, so that might be hard to do.
"She's got a cold image and there's the whole Monica Lewinsky thing. I don't think people understand her position with Bill's infidelities."
Miss Traczyk favoured Mr Obama, saying he had "that Kennedy factor".
When Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992, he skipped the Iowa caucuses. These days, that would be too big a risk. In 2004, John Kerry secured the Democratic nomination by winning Iowa. This time, the race has begun so early that the caucuses are more important than ever.
Even Mrs Clinton's backers in the diner feared for her prospects. "I'm definitely a fan," said Cheri Adair, 67, who works with victims of crime.
"I want the Democrats to win big time. But I'm afraid that she will be nominated and not be elected and lose it for the party."
Regards, Ivan
Ping!
Sounds good to me.
Mrs. Clinton couldn't wait to get far away from the heartland folks of Arkansas looking down her nose at them.
The folks of Iowa are the same type of good downhome people.
I think they will see Mrs. Clinton for what she is, full of herself and just not one of them.
So much for the wisdom of the common man/woman...
Sure she does. She swears at and maligns her Secret Service and treats the military around her like servants. She's got the common touch alright. In fact she even says she has the "common" in her thoughts.
****
"We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good." -Hillary Rodham Clinton, 6/28/04 ...
No politician is "one of them." I've never voted for someone be cause he is "one of us," because none of them are, but because whoever they were they had the right take on the issues. But as you point out, HRC is so out there, so much a creature of the media and the left, she lost any pretention to being in contact with the concerns of the working class decades ago, if she ever had them beyond that liberal condescension for those "beneath" them.
Hitlery will be revealed in all her witchy glory.
Go Hitlery Go! Mmmmmmmm! Butterd pancakes for your THIGHNESS!
LOL.
"To win the White House, Senator Hillary Clinton needs to sit down in the diners of the frozen flatlands of Iowa and, over coffee and buttered pancakes, persuade folks that she understands them. "
Isn't this the reason her camp wants to make all the primaries around the same time, to avoid an Iowa?
Fnny, haven't heard it mentioned in the MSM.
Of course, if they don't "understand her", she'll just give 'em the Billy Dale treatment.
She's a nag, destined for the glue factory.
Hillary prefers to do her "chatting" from a remote, undisclosed location, not sitting in an Iowa cafe w/a cup of coffee and real live person.
And yet, they elect swine like Dungheap Harkin!
Or maybe I'd ask something like: "I've got some papers I need to keep out of the public eye for a couple of years. Would you mind if I stashed them in your bedroom?"
Or maybe I'd ask: "Why didn't you rip your old mans b**** off when you found out he was sticking cigars into that intern?"
Or maybe I'd ask: "Can I borrow your copy of 'Leaves of Grass'?"
Or maybe: "Do you plan to tell the truth at the Stan Lee trial?"
The possibilities boggle the mind.
L
I was just having a couple cookies and a small glass of milk before going back to bed.
I read your post and snort-sprayed a goodly swallow of milk right out my nose. :>
Who is Bill Clinton doing these days? Any word from the celebrity news?
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