http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119803545526038719-1v1Ljl8T1oQVwOpfFekfNMn38rI_20080117.html?mod=tff_main_tff_topWhen Ms. Vilmain took over the Clinton operation in June, four months after Sen. Clinton's entry into the race, she devised the campaign's first business plan and set a goal, which she won't reveal, for how many Iowans she hopes will caucus for her candidate in all 99 counties, and a timetable for signing up commitments.
The total Democratic turnout in 1,781 precincts is likely to top 125,000. If Sen. Clinton can gather 50,000 supporters -- roughly 2% of Iowa's voting-age population -- advisers believe she would achieve a winning plurality. This month she opened a 36th office. With more than 100 paid staffers and volunteers, including legions of current and former Clinton aides and friends, the campaign has more than matched Sen. Obama's early advantage on the ground. The cost for the Clinton campaign alone is expected to exceed $15 million.
A calendar in Ms. Vilmain's office conference room denotes nights for caucus "dry runs," a sort of practice for precinct captains and those charged with transporting caucus-goers, decorating caucus sites and checking at the door of each church basement or school hall on caucus night for no-shows among voters who have committed to support Sen. Clinton. Weeks ago she started a statewide "Take a Buddy to Caucus" program to spur first-time caucus-goers who otherwise would be intimidated by the idea of politicking alone among strangers.
When the Clintons campaign, Ms. Vilmain usually tags along with one of them, keeping in touch with headquarters and field offices by BlackBerry but also joining younger workers at each event to press commitment cards on undecided voters. Each night, she takes to her temporary apartment a three-page "hard count" of supporters, new recruits for precinct captains and attendance at the day's campaign events or caucus-training sessions. Field operatives feed the data into computer.
By dawn, she has a consolidated trend report before the day's conference calls and meetings begin. The count tallies voters on a scale of 1 to 4 -- the 1s are supporters who have signed commitment cards, 2s have committed but not signed, 3s are the coveted undecideds and 4s support rivals.
With voters suffering "phone fatigue" from months of calls by campaigns and pollsters, the campaigns are resorting as never before to door-to-door canvassing. Ms. Vilmain has armed her soldiers with brief, humorous "Caucusing is Easy" DVDs (and videocassettes for homes without a DVD player) featuring Bill Clinton.
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