Putting Her Heart and Soles Into the Iowa Campaign
DES MOINES -- On a bright, brisk afternoon, Nicole Vance, a field organizer for Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign, is going door-to-door through the streets of West Des Moines, visiting Clinton supporters and knocking on the doors of a lot of empty homes.
Walking away from one house, she sees a truck pull into the driveway. Out steps Dennis Laird, 59, who immediately begins to shovel snow. Vance had been hoping to see his wife, Mary Ann, but she doubles back nonetheless.
"Nope," Laird replies to a question about supporting Clinton, as he continues to shovel. He's for John Edwards.
"That's okay," Vance says. "We have a lot of great candidates right now."
"Too many," Laird says, pausing for a moment. "Well, I'll tell ya, no matter what, it can't be worse than the one they got."
"My problem with the Democratic Party is the past two elections they just gave up," he says. "They said Al Gore was the winner and then he's not. They just gave up."
"Hillary Clinton won't back down," Vance says. "She'll fight."
Vance is a fighter, too. A recent graduate of Iowa State, she turned 23 yesterday. She's spent the last seven months working ungodly hours in this tiny bit of Iowa, living at home with her folks in Altoona, pulling down a little less than $600 a week.
That may sound like the prototype for someone who supports Barack Obama, who did his own stint as a street-level organizer and is attracting passionate support from young voters.
But Vance is devoted to Hillary Clinton. Clinton has earned her trust. More than trust, she's earned her love.
"I definitely do," Vance says when she's asked whether she actually "loves" Clinton. "I definitely, definitely, definitely do. The more I learn about Hillary, the more confident I am that I'm supporting the right candidate. She's been fighting for issues I care about for 35 years. I don't see how you can downplay that experience."
Her come-to-Clinton moment was a standard bit of retail politics here, where candidates in both parties spend a lot of time talking to voters face-to-face in preparation for the first caucuses in the country.
Vance was interning at the Center for American Progress in Washington last spring and returned to Iowa for a weekend. A friend who was volunteering for the campaign asked her if she could help out for a day. Vance told her friend she'd do it but made clear she wasn't sold on Clinton.
And then she met her at a town hall-style meeting in Marshalltown.
"She talked a lot about when to stand your ground and when to cooperate. At this point in our history I think it's important to have someone who can bring people together but also stand for something important," Vance says. "She also talked about issues I cared about -- issues dealing with young people, with college affordability, with health care.
"It wasn't one issue, one turning point. It was a combination of everything. Plus, seeing her in person I could tell she cared a lot about what she was saying and was sincere."
And that was enough. Afterward, some of the Clinton senior staff in attendance asked Vance about her plans after graduation. In a matter of weeks, Vance returned to Iowa for good -- this time as a member of Team Hillary.
"I just see her as a great example of someone who's working literally just for Hillary Clinton," says Clinton's Iowa field director, Denise Feriozzi. "She's not attracted to this to be near the senator or to be in pictures. She just cares so much about Hillary Clinton and comes to work each day with a smile on her face and works her tail off."
Vance primarily works in several precincts in West Des Moines, canvassing door-to-door, calling supporters about upcoming events and talking to people who haven't attended a caucus before. She's gotten close to many of the campaign volunteers.
"The personal relationships I've developed are unbelievable," she says. "Honestly, I am there for them. They will call me when their families are having problems. They will call me when they have a really great day. I know their plans for Christmas."
On Wednesday evening, Vance arrives at a senior center on the south side of Des Moines, where Clinton is scheduled to speak. She scans the room for people she knows and those she doesn't, homing in on targets. She speaks to a couple in their 80s who've never attended a caucus. As the crowd begins to grow thicker, she brings coffee to an elderly man (who declines to be identified), who says he's undecided between Clinton and Edwards.
"What's holding you back?" she says. "She's so brilliant, so smart."
The man gets to judge for himself when Clinton takes the stage. During a wide-ranging speech touching on everything from health care to the struggles of the middle class, Clinton receives several standing ovations.
After the speech, Vance rushes to the exit where she intercepts her undecided project. When the man says he's still undecided, Vance says, "I saw you stand up three times. What problems do you have now?"
Soon after, Vance leaves without saying hi or good night to the candidate.
"It's important for her to meet the key people in the area," Vance says, driving back to the local campaign headquarters to work for a few more hours. "She doesn't have to meet me. The more people she meets, the more people are going to be confident in their support for Hillary. I would rather she skip the hello to me [and] say hello to six or seven caucusgoers, because I can only do so much."
On Sunday, Vance is spending her 23rd birthday in her car canvassing, looking forward to more empty homes, more dogs, more people to talk to. In a matter of days this phase of life will come to an end with the culmination of the caucuses. Vance says she isn't looking past that date.
"I would like to work for Hillary Clinton as long as I can," she says. "But Iowa is so important and I can't think beyond trying to be as successful as I can here."
By Sridhar Pappu, The Washington Post, December 24, 2007
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