For Clinton in Iowa, More Time and More Advertising

[DeepModem Mom]

NYT: For Clinton, More Time and More Advertising
By JEFF ZELENY
Published: November 18, 2007

DES MOINES, Nov. 17 — Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has nearly doubled the size of her staff in Iowa and has substantially increased her advertising here as her campaign reinforces its effort to prevent Democrats from coalescing around a single alternative to her candidacy.

In the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas, Mrs. Clinton, whose campaign has been on the defensive lately because of her own missteps and increasingly aggressive attacks from her rivals, is moving to double or triple the amount of time she has spent here in recent months. Seldom will a day go by, aides said, when either she or former President Bill Clinton will not be on some patch of Iowa soil trying to solidify her support and win over an unusually high number of uncommitted voters....

The intense attention is the latest indication of the Clinton campaign’s worry about establishing dominance in Iowa — the opening contest in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination — to match the strength she has shown in national polls. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois and former Senator John Edwards of North Carolina have waged spirited campaigns here, taking advantage of what polls suggest is unease with Mrs. Clinton among many voters.

The maneuvering here is critical, because Mrs. Clinton’s aides, along with many Democrats not associated with her campaign, believe that her momentum will be difficult to slow if she wins in Iowa; polls suggest that she is strong in New Hampshire. The Clinton campaign has been flying in operatives from across the country to bolster the Iowa effort.

Complicating the matter even more, the campaigns of Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico and Senators Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware and Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut also have the potential to sway the race. If candidates do not reach a 15 percent threshold in each of the 1,784 precinct caucuses on Jan. 3, their supporters make a second choice, a procedure that Mrs. Clinton’s aides fear could favor Mr. Edwards or Mr. Obama....

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/18/us/politics/18dems.html?hp

[monmouth]

1. Perhaps she's worried about a "dark horse" in the second tier making

a "phoenix rising" ..... Just maybe..

[Debi]

2. If a candidate doesn't reach 15% viability they are not 'out' of the race

in the realignment process non-viable candidate supporters can join together to make a candidate viable OR a person who is with a viable candidate can move over to a non-viable candidate to make them viable (in order to become a delegate to the county convention maybe?) AND there is NO PROOF that Clinton/Obama/Edwards are going to be viable in all 1,700 precincts in Iowa OR that Biden/Dodd/Richardson/Kucinich/Gravel are NOT going to be viable in every precinct.

Sorry if I rambled there but the MSM has it WRONG!