At a recent "organizing event" at the State Historical Building, in the shadow of Iowa's capitol dome, Clinton's supporters are getting restless before the candidate's even arrived. Somewhere in the crowd, a chant breaks out. "When I say 'Madam' you say 'President,' " someone orders. "Madam!"
"President!" a diffuse, halfhearted chorus responds. The cheer lasts for just another minute or two, dying down as quickly as it arose. Then, with hardly a warning, the candidate walks onstage, joined by agriculture secretary and former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack and his wife. The audience bursts into applause when they see Clinton, which turns out to be the emotional high point of the evening. Vilsack, by way of introduction, tells a too-long story about inviting Clinton to an embarrassingly small fundraiser in 1998 when she was the first lady and he was the unknown and underdog candidate for governor.
When Vilsack finally passes the microphone to Clinton herself, it's a relief, albeit short-lived. For some reason, Clinton decides to tell her side of the nonstory, regaling the crowd with the mind-numbing details of conversations with her East Wing political team, who assured her Vilsack "doesn't have a chance." She took a gamble and, in an exciting conclusion . . . raised money for him anyway. In the back of the room, a baby starts screaming.
Thankfully, Clinton soon moves on to deliver her stump speech, the main theme of which is: Do you really want to see a Republican in the White House? She tries a laugh line. "Now, I've been listening to our Republican friends who are running for the office. Yeah, it is a little daunting. They are quite—" she pauses, making sure the crowd is paying attention, "—evidence averse." There are some polite chuckles, more than when she used the line in Davenport earlier in the day and felt compelled to tell that audience to "think about it."