For Hillary Clinton, there are no gimmicks this time. | Getty Hillary Clinton's slow and steady final push With her field organization doing the heavy lifting, there's no frenzied sprint to the finish line.

DES MOINES — With just hours to go before the caucuses Monday night, Hillary Clinton still appears to be pacing herself.

During her final three full days of campaigning in unusually balmy 40 degree Iowa weather, the former secretary of state is set to appear at a total of nine “Get out the Caucus” events across the state -- keeping the steady, measured rhythm she has maintained for weeks now on the road instead of ramping it up. Unlike Bernie Sanders, who is expected to attend 14 rallies and town halls in his final three-day push, there doesn’t appear to be any sprint to the finish line.


A candidate’s time is a campaign’s most precious resource, so the different scheduling approaches in the waning moments of a neck-and-neck race are revealing.

For Sanders, the endgame in Iowa comes down to getting the candidate in front of as many faces as possible.

“The reason why we have so many events is Bernie really loves it,” said his senior strategist Tad Devine. “He feels the energy. We had a strategy from the beginning -- how many people can we actually get Bernie Sanders in front of? We’re going to be well over 60,000 people in Iowa. That’s our strategy, contact with voters, and he really enjoys being close to them.”

The backbone of the Vermont senator’s campaign is Sanders’ fiery delivery of a stump speech about a rigged economy – he’s best in front of a large crowd railing against the billionaire class. Sanders has been clear with his staffers that he wants them to pack his schedule and go “pedal to the medal” in the run-up to Monday, another aide added.

For Clinton, whose allies say they are feeling confident ahead of Monday night’s caucus, the ground organization itself is doing the heavy lifting for the candidate, who is more powerful in smaller groups than in front of the 300-person town hall settings where she’s been performing.

“They started building this organization as far back as April,” said Democratic strategist Brad Anderson, who worked as President Obama’s 2012 Iowa state director and is in touch with the Clinton campaign. “They feel pretty confident they have a strong organization in place to turn their folks out. I don’t think they’re in panic mode – my sense is they feel good about where they’re at.”

He added: “I just don’t think there’s any need to run the candidate ragged given the strength of the organization.”

On Thursday, Clinton even left the state all together to attend a fundraiser in Philadelphia – a move insiders said was indicative of the campaign’s need for cash after pouring considerable resources into Iowa, in addition to the prospect of a race that will drag on for longer than originally expected. Sanders also left the state earlier this week, for a meeting with President Obama.

Clinton, however, has the advantage of a surrogate who can actually stand in for the candidate: Bill Clinton has been campaigning across the state and turning out modest crowds – on Saturday he spoke in front of a half-empty hall in Iowa Falls – while talking up his wife as a “changemaker.”

Hillary Clinton’s schedule is a departure from her first presidential run, a 2008 veteran of her campaign recalled. Back then, even though campaign thought it was in a good position, it still “went till late at night and tried to pack in four or five events a day,” and didn’t leave the state in the final push.

The differences between the two campaign schedules are also a reflection of style and circumstance. Clinton’s events are longer in duration – she typically spends about 20 minutes working the rope line after a rally, while Sanders is known to bolt from an event after a bare minimum of interaction with his supporters. Clinton is also saddled with a long security check-in progress, while supporters can enter and exit Sanders’ events with no Secret Service swipes.

And she often meets with people before an event, behind stage. On Thursday, for instance, Clinton spent an hour with advocates from Every Child Matters before a rally at Berg Middle School outside Des Moines. On Saturday, she stopped by Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines to speak briefly at African-American festival called “I’ll Make Me a World in Iowa.”

"Our schedule reflects our imperatives," said spokesman Nick Merrill. "From the start, we've put a premium on campaign days that allow her to get out, listen to people, share her message, and have as many one on one conversations with voters as possible. It's a strategy that has allowed her to learn a lot about what's on Iowans' minds, and in these final days thank them, with the hope of earning their support."

A poll released by the Des Moines Register Saturday night showed her with a slim 45 percent to 42 percent lead over Sanders – though Clinton’s support appeared to be more secure since a larger percentage of her backers said their minds were made up than Sanders backers.

Some strategists said Clinton’s endgame matches the flavor of her campaign to date in its tight management of the candidate. “This is running through the finish line in the same fashion we’ve seen them all along,” said John Stineman, an Iowa-based GOP strategist. “The Clinton campaign has been very selective in the events they do and they’re protective of her time, and driven to be far more scripted. Bernie’s events are more casual and free-flowing. From what we’ve seen from Hillary for the last six or nine months, let alone the last six days, they’re very protective of her in trying to minimize any risk of a misstep.”

For Clinton, the real final push is happening behind the scenes. Precinct captain Julie Mason, for instance, has written personal letters to a list of about 100 likely Clinton supporters in her precinct provided to her by the campaign. She’s also signed up a visibility greeter, a decorator, persuasion captains, a math captain – and back ups for all caucus positions in case anyone gets sick on Monday night.

“Now I’m trying to see if any Hillary supporters need rides and I’m finding rides for them,” said Mason. “It’s become a full-time job. I can’t wait to be re-retired.”

For Clinton, there are no gimmicks this time – like the famously mocked snow shovels her campaign distributed to volunteers in 2008, then viewed as symbols of how out of touch she was with the state (Iowans were confused by receiving an item they already owned). This time, they're focused on more important details. For instance, all the Clinton literature and mail have the caucus locations printed on them – a seemingly mundane detail that could make a huge difference.

“You need a massive organization to get all the packets across the state disseminated to all 1,683 precincts,” said Anderson. “They’ve been doing it for weeks.”