It hasn't been easy. But the senator from New York appears to be growing on Iowa, home to the first-in-the-nation presidential caucuses.
A poll published yesterday by the Des Moines Register gave her 29 percent of the vote and a six-point lead - as big as she's had in any Iowa survey - in a tight three-way race with John Edwards and Barack Obama. Another poll has her slightly behind Obama.
No matter the numbers, Iowa remains a much tougher sell for Clinton than most of the other key, early states. That explains why this year, more than ever, the caucuses are the main event on the Democratic side.
In the national polls, Clinton is comfortably ahead in the contest for her party's nomination, looking stronger and better-financed than ever. In general election match-ups, she beats all comers.
In Iowa, though, she's getting a real battle from rivals who understand that a win for Clinton here would make her all but unstoppable, given her strength in the states that follow.
Talk to local Democrats, and you hear some express worries about her divisiveness and doubts about her electability.
"I like Hillary; I think she'd be a great president," said Larry Popenhagen, 55, a longtime county official in northeast Iowa who's trying to decide between Edwards and Obama. "But I don't want a nominee whom half the population already detests. Lifelong Republicans tell me they might vote Democrat this time. Not one of them, though, will vote for Hillary."
The competitiveness of the race is attributable in Iowa to a number of factors, the main one being that the race is far more fully engaged here than anywhere else.
Edwards has mounted a huge personal and organizational effort, Bill Richardson a significant media and on-the-ground campaign, Obama all of the above. Joe Biden practically lives here full time.
