OTTUMWA, IOWA—I was driving east on US-63, outside of Des Moines, headed to see Bill Clinton stump for his wife Thursday night in Ottumwa. In other words, on my way to see Bill Clinton make the case against Bernie Sanders, a political figure who looms larger now than anybody could have thought just a few months ago. And that’s the moment I saw…Bernie Sanders?

In the days before Monday’s Iowa caucus, when the entire political world descends on the Hawkeye State, the place seems to shrink. So much so that you get the feeling that, at any moment, a person who wants to be president (or a person who was president) could be right in front of you. To be honest, I didn’t spot Sanders, not technically—just his gleaming campaign bus. So I decided to follow it.

Seventy miles later, it pulled up in front of a brick building in downtown Ottumwa. Inside were about 100 local Sanders volunteers; Bernie had come to give them a pep talk. Speaking into a mic attached to a scratchy portable PA system, Sanders began by thanking them. “I think everybody understands that today we are in a nip-and-tuck race. That’s a fact. So the reason that we have come so far in such a relatively short period of time is because of your efforts.” Then he implored them to keep at it. “Four days to go,” Sanders said. “We will win this election if there is a large voter turnout on Monday night. We will not win it if there is a low voter turnout. Our job in the next four days is to make certain that there is a large voter turnout.”

As Sanders posed for a quick round of pictures with the volunteers, I fell into a conversation with a young woman wearing a blue hoodie and a Bernie Sanders hat who was drinking from a giant can of Surge. Her name was Emily Crouse, and she was 23. She said she was working for minimum wage at a Subway in Ottumwa and living with her parents as she tried to save enough money to go back to college.

“He just really speaks to me,” she explained. “He’s talking about free health care. He’s talking about bringing up the minimum wage, equal pay, free college. I’m like, ‘Where has this guy been my whole life?’ ” Crouse planned to caucus for Sanders on Monday night. “I’m heading there right after work after I pick up my Mom.”

Between now and then, she was going to do whatever she could to help Sanders. “If I’m not working, I’m going to be here,” Crouse said. “I’m actually waiting to go make some calls now.” She excused herself and headed into a small room decorated with handwritten posters bearing some of Sanders’ favorite sayings. The candidate, meanwhile, slipped out a side door and got back onto his bus, headed to another town to give another pep talk to another group of volunteers.

Jason Zengerle is GQ’s political correspondent.