Hillary Clinton Campaign Kicks into Gear

Jan. 22, 2007 — -- It was bitter cold at the ground zero construction site in lower Manhattan this morning, but if Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., was freezing, she never let on.

Her bare hands shoved deep in the pockets of a wool coat, she spoke briefly and then stood quietly as no less than 10 other speakers went to the podium to demand more federal assistance for emergency workers and volunteers who've developed respiratory illnesses following their efforts at the World Trade Center site.

While she was sharing the spotlight, the campaign machine was rolling on.

Staffers are frantically making plans for Clinton's first visit to Iowa in three years. Because of her Senate duties in Washington this week, Clinton will wait until Friday night to head to Iowa. Campaign officials said she'll likely make multiple stops on Saturday and Sunday, including Des Moines.

With the first caucus in the nation, Iowa demands attention. Former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., has spent much of his time there since being on the losing ticket in 2004. He has traversed the state and is very popular there.

"I'm strong in Iowa, strong in New Hampshire, strong in all the primary states and the campaign is just beginning. I feel very good about it," Edwards told ABC News over the weekend.

Clinton's team is well aware that they need to make inroads in that state and other early primary states quickly. Much like her successful listening tour of upstate New York, which led to her first election to the U.S. Senate in 2000, campaign organizers plan to have the senator speak in intimate settings, where she can talk to voters one on one.

"Our challenge, what we need to do now is to get Hillary Clinton out to meet with the voters, to talk to them, to talk to them in small groups, and let her explain her positions," said longtime Clinton friend and national chairman for Clinton's campaign Terry McAuliffe.

"That's our challenge and that's what we need to do," added McAuliffe. "Now we've got to go do retail politics across this country."