New York Sen. Hillary Clinton embarked on her final campaign swing of the Iowa caucus campaign Wednesday morning. Some highlights:
8:30 a.m. - Hillary and Chelsea pop into Clinton's local Des Moines headquarters to thank volunteers and field staff for their work. Posted on the wall is a hand-printed sign; guidelines for phone bankers: "Components of Persuasion." The No. 1 component: "Listen & Be Polite."
Hillary brought bagels and donuts for the workers: "We want you to be fortified."
They move through the crowd. Chelsea approaches seven-year-old Aaron Norris, there with dad Chris. "Are you going to go to the caucus tomorrow night?" Chelsea asks. Shy silence. "The correct answer is 'yes'," Chelsea says. A 25-minute visit. Then to the bus, and on to Indianola.
9:30 a.m. - First United Methodist Church in Indianola, a massive crowd in a less-than-massive room. Actors Ted Danson and Mary Steenburgen, longtime friends of the Clintons, introduce Hillary.
"They are as wonderful people as they are actors," Hillary tells the crowd. Hope that's hyperbole, cause here's a news flash: Ted Danson is not such a hot actor. "Three Men and a Baby?" `Nuff said.
11:30 - After the event, waiting on the idling press bus. In strides Hillary - a rare appearance! She brings bagels and coffee for the disheveled reporters still recovering from the uncivlized 7:15 call.
"I didn't want you to feel deprived," she says, adding "maybe we'll have a toast tomorrow night."
She departs quickly, leaving staff to dispense coffee. There is much wisecracking about whether it's safe to eat or drink, given Hillary's famous antipathy for the press. This reporter braved the coffee. And survived.
Noon - Back to Des Moines, boarding planes for eastern Iowa. Stops scheduled in Cedar Rapids and Davenport, two areas heavy with Democratic voters.
1:30 - Cedar Rapids, here's former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack introducing Hillary: "It's bowl season, so I'll use a football analogy. We're moving down the field. We're in the red zone. It's first and goal. And our quarterback is the next president of the United States, Hillary Clinton!"
Hmmm. Personally, I'd go with Chad Henne.
More updates as the day goes by...
UPDATES
2:30 - The buses roll from Cedar Rapids...BREAKING NEWS...Repoters on the bus learn from editors in New York and Washington that Clinton taped an appearance on Letterman before the Cedar Rapids event. The press staff had not told the traveling press. Frustration simmers. It's a virtually meaningless slight/oversight, yet emblematic of the strained relationship between the Clinton campaign and those who cover it. The general feeling of reporters covering the campaign is "Why do they hate us?" The general feeling of the campaign toward reporters is "Why do they hate us?"
4 p.m. - Quick flight to Davenport. Clinton's 11-car motorcade rolls to the Mississippi Valley fairgrounds, where Clinton speaks in the round to about 400 people. Sitting just behind the press riser is a supporter who functions as something of an off-color, one-woman Greek chorus to Clinton's stump speech.
"You know, we borrow money from the Chinese to buy oil from the Saudis," Clinton says. "That's retarded," responds the woman.
Clinton points out the average family's energy bills skyrocketed the past few years. "She-ee-it," drawls the woman.
Clinton says of Republicans: "They've been after me for 16 years and I'm still here!" The woman jumps to her feet, erupting with "woo-hoos!"
7 p.m. - Clinton flies to Ottumwa, splitting from the traveling press corps, who fly to Des Moines for the last big rally of the night. The Ottumwa rally is pooled and, no news comes from it. The pool traveling "with" Clinton is still relegated to a separate plane.
10 p.m. - Back in Des Moines, Clinton is at the state historical society for the last big rally of the day. With her is President Bill Clinton, daughter Chelsea, mom Dorothy, and the man who will be guaranteed a very nice job in Washington if Hillary pulls off a win here, former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack. The crowd is enthusiastic, Bill is charismatic, and now, after months of pre-game, it's out of everybody's hands except the people of Iowa.