RUTHFULLY YOURS

TOP DEMOCRAT IOWANS COOL TO HILLARYBY Reid J. Epstein and Peter Nicholas

Posted By Ruth King on January 5th, 2015

http://www.wsj.com/articles/top-iowa-democrats-slow-to-rally-around-hillary-clinton-1420418121?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Top Iowa Democrats Slow to Rally Around Hillary ClintonMany Say They Would Prefer a More Liberal Candidate or At Least a Robust Debate

Iowa Democratic leaders say they are troubled by the prospect that Hillary Clinton could win the state’s 2016 presidential caucuses without a serious challenge, a view primarily rooted in a desire for a more liberal candidate or at least a robust debate about the party’s policies and direction.

Interviews with more than half of Democratic chiefs in Iowa’s 99 counties show a state party leadership so far reluctant to coalesce behind Mrs. Clinton. County Democratic officials also voiced qualms about Mrs. Clinton’s ability to win a general election and her fundraising ties to Wall Street firms and corporations, which remain a target of liberal ire.

Many county officials said they would like to see senators including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont enter the race, though they were split over whether any could gain traction and overtake Mrs. Clinton.

“My heart wouldn’t be in it for Hillary to the extent that it might be if it was a different candidate,” said Jennifer Herrington, chair of the Page County Democrats in southwest Iowa. “I admire Hillary, she’d be a great president, but you know, she isn’t my first choice I guess.”

Of course, candidates can secure a party nomination without winning Iowa, an idiosyncratic contest that tends to reward candidates with strong local organization and passionate supporters. But as the first-in-the-nation contest, set to take place about a year from now, Iowa draws outsize attention from candidates and the media, and it can set a narrative for a party’s entire primary season.

Mrs. Clinton was also the front-runner at the start of the 2008 presidential campaign, but her big polling lead eroded as the Iowa campaign wore on and caucus participants migrated to the insurgent campaign of then-Sen. Barack Obama , who won in Iowa, and former Sen. John Edwards , who finished in second place. Mrs. Clinton bounced back with a win in New Hampshire and won several other states before bowing out of the race in early June after Mr. Obama built an insurmountable delegate lead.

This time, polling in Iowa again shows Mrs. Clinton with a big lead, nearly 50 points, over other possible Democratic candidates. But Iowa Democratic officials, most of whom backed Mr. Obama or Mr. Edwards in 2008, said they fear what several called a Clinton “coronation” that would deprive the party of a discussion about its direction on economic issues. Those qualms reflect the unease of a national party increasingly split between its centrist and liberal wings.

While all the Iowa party chiefs interviewed said they would support Mrs. Clinton in a general election, many described her as their second choice in the Democratic contest.

“The Hillary Clinton inevitability talk is the same thing we heard in 2008, and the caucusgoers in Iowa chose a different route,” said Joe Judge, chairman of the Democratic Party in Monroe County. “The field is wide open for that again.”

A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton declined to comment.

Ms. Warren, a freshman senator, has said she isn’t running and has pledged to finish out her term. But liberal activists are trying to lure her into the race. MoveOn.org, a liberal advocacy group, has been interviewing activists and is looking for office space in Des Moines and Cedar Rapids as part of its Draft Warren effort, spokeswoman Victoria Kaplan said.

State Democratic officials also want a contested race because that boosts the party apparatus and fundraising. Mr. Obama’s 2008 campaign attracted scores of volunteers who remain active in the party. Various presidential hopefuls, moreover, serve as star attractions for fundraising dinners and barbecue cookouts across the state.

John Stone, party chairman in Cerro Gordo County, throws the annual Wing Ding supper in Clear Lake in August. When Mr. Obama spoke there in 2007, he drew nearly 700 people, with attendees paying $25 a ticket to benefit local candidates in 17 northern Iowa counties. Without a big name, the dinner draws closer to 400 people, Mr. Stone said.

“When we have these candidates out here running for office, we invite them to county dinners and the numbers swell at these events,” said Tom Henderson, chairman of Democratic Party in Polk County, which includes Des Moines. “So it is a great, great service for the Democratic Party to have these candidates running for office.”

Veterans of the state’s Democratic caucuses recall a lean period from 1988 to 2004 and are wary of a repeat, especially with a rollicking Republican contest in the offing. Some Iowa Democrats believed the state party suffered even in 2012, when Mr. Obama was running for re-election.

“I think even though the president won in 2012, the Republicans were on national TV with all the debates and their ideas were promoted over and over and over, and Democratic values were not,” said Julie Stewart, the chairwoman of the Dallas County Democrats, who is a Clinton supporter. “Our values were lost, and I think it showed up in 2014 that we had no message.”

None of this is to suggest state party leaders wouldn’t support Mrs. Clinton should she win the nomination. Many described her in admiring terms, even while pining for a Warren candidacy.

“I think [Mrs. Clinton] has the experience, I think she is intelligent and quite frankly, with her husband and the experience he had, he would be able to give her some advice,” said Carol Gordon, the Democratic leader in Grundy County, between Des Moines and Cedar Rapids.

Yet Ms. Gordon said she is so enthralled with Ms. Warren that she purchased a copy of the senator’s latest book and donated it to the local public library.

Added Lorraine Williams, chairwoman of the Washington County Democrats: “Elizabeth Warren, I would enjoy going out to lunch with her. Hillary, less.”

Beyond the personal, some worry Mrs. Clinton might not be best-positioned to defeat the eventual Republican nominee, concerned her candidacy wouldn’t be exciting enough to draw in the younger voters who backed Mr. Obama.

Tom Swartz, who heads the Marshall County Democrats, said he wanted to learn more about Ms. Warren, Mr. Sanders and former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, who has set up a committee exploring a presidential run. He suggested Mrs. Clinton’s best chance may have come and gone.

“There’s always the nagging feeling that her ship may have sailed,” he said.

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