Why Iowa's a Slog for Hillary

The Hillary Clinton camp was convinced that the road to the nomination must go through Iowa, but right about now they may be wishing they'd taken the advice of an aide who urged her to bypass the first caucus state completely. Politico revisits the aide's May memo for keys to her disappointing standing with one day left: For starters, the Hawkeye State has never elected a woman—not as governor, senator, or congresswoman.

Iowa Dems also tend to be pretty liberal, and many won’t forgive Hillary her Iraq vote. And third, since Bill sat out 1992, she had no pre-built operation to overcome those negatives. She's gambling heavily on bringing out women, young and old, looking to elect the first president of their gender, Time notes. But as first-time caucusgoers are notoriously unreliable at showing up, there's no telling whether they'll do the trick. (More Clinton 2008 stories.)