Hours after announcing her candidacy for president, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton hopped in a van en route to Iowa, the state that foiled her 2008 bid and one voters say she’s gonna have to work to win.
Clinton will kick her campaign off with two roundtables billed as “conversations with everyday Iowans” on Tuesday and Wednesday. The two Hawkeye State events will be closed to the public and limited to the media, as the campaign attempts to give the rollout a small scale campaign, despite the candidate’s big-ticket appeal.
Iowa Democrats across the state told msnbc they want the former secretary of state to come and speak directly to them about the issues and win them over.
Related: Clinton climbs into van, drives to Iowa
“I think we are Hillary fans, but I also think we are fans of whomever speaks to the issues and really speaks from the heart,” Iowa Democrat Carl McPherson told msnbc. “Yes, we love her, but she is not guaranteed.”
“I don’t think she is the inevitable candidate for anyone,” Iowa Democrat and candidate for the state’s District 38 Heather Matson told msnbc. “It’s not so much that Hillary has to win us over, we just want a chance to hear from everybody and then make a decision you know, based on what we hear and what we like the best.”
The planned, intimate appeal may be effective in the state, the former Iowa state Democratic Party chairman Scott Brennan told msnbc: “The only thing she needs to do differently is speak from the heart and tell Iowans what she stands for,” he said. “Get here, and you know, spend time in Iowa. Iowans just want to get a chance to know her and talk to her.”
Voters said they were particularly interested in hearing her ideas on the economy. “I’m looking for a progressive populist economic agenda, and, uh, a sane foreign policy,” Iowa Democrat Nathan Blake said. Ryan Crane told msnbc he was looking for candidates to engage in a “a good robust discussion on income inequality and the growing disparage between those that have a lot of money, nearly all of the money and you know, those of us who are middle class.” “We’d like to see her take some strong, progressive stands on a number of issues, and we haven’t heard a whole lot from her,” Vern Naffier told msnbc.
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