Elizabeth Warren's systematic, methodical approach to Iowa — and why she's rising in the polls From the opening song — channeling themes of class, politics and populism — to the selfie lines and the "2 cents" chants rippling through crowds, Warren employs a methodical approach to her campaign.

Kim Norvell | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Inside an Elizabeth Warren selfie line As of early November, Elizabeth Warren had taken almost 10,000 selfies while campaigning in Iowa. A look at her selfie line.

CEDAR FALLS, Ia. — When the first notes of Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" started playing over the sound system at a cattle call of 2020 Democratic presidential candidates this summer, the crowd roared.

The pounding keyboard riff signified to those in the audience that U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren was ready to take the stage. Unlike the other candidates before her, people didn't need to wait until Warren's name was announced to know who was up next.

Her campaign speech at the Democratic Wing Ding fundraiser didn't break new ground from the stumps she's given throughout Iowa since announcing her presidential campaign in January.

Instead, what sets Warren apart from the more than a dozen other Democratic presidential candidates traipsing across Iowa is the systematic approach she's taken with her campaign. From her opening song — which channels themes of class, politics and populism — to the selfie lines and the "2 cents" chants that ripple through crowds, Warren employs a methodical approach to events and organizing that has coincided with a steady rise in the polls.

"There's a culture that other campaigns don't have," said Sean Bagniewski, chair of the Polk County Democrats.

In addition, Warren has built a highly visible ground team that has made itself known to Iowa politicos as it canvasses cities and organizes caucus leaders. It's that robust organizational presence that could explain, in part, her rise in the Des Moines Register/CNN/Mediacom Iowa Poll, Iowa Democrats have said.

In September, 22% of likely Democratic caucusgoers said Warren was their first choice for president, compared with 20% for former vice president Joe Biden and 11% for U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. No other candidate reached double digits.

Warren said her Iowa strategy was born out of the decision to run a grassroots campaign. Instead of holding private fundraisers, she decided to spend time on the ground and in town halls, she said.

"(I decided) I was going to take the money that came in and put it right back into organizing and to hiring a paid organizing staff so that volunteers have a place to go, so they have a way to get connected. And it's worked," Warren told the Des Moines Register before a town hall in Cedar Falls recently. "My job, mostly, has just been I'll show up and do the town halls and say to my Iowa team, 'Go get 'em.'"

Here's a look at some of the Warren-specific aspects of the campaign:

The 'selfie' line

The senator from Massachusetts spends about 30 to 45 minutes at each Iowa event outlining the reasons she's running for president: To make government work for the working class, not the rich and powerful. To overhaul America's tax system. To get corruption out of politics.

But before she takes the stage, whoever introduces her makes a promise: Every person who wants a photo with the senator will get a photo. And at every campaign stop in Iowa, she stays until the last person in line gets their shot.

The "selfie line" — this is Warren's phrasing, though it's actually a photo taken by another human, therefore, not a selfie — is highly organized.

►More: 'That's what girls do': Elizabeth Warren tells young Iowa girls why she's running for president, with a pinky promise

At least eight staffers or volunteers usher people through the line. Each interaction takes less than 10 seconds, but can have a lasting impact on the candidate's supporters.

"You don't have to hustle and bustle and try to elbow your way through a crowd to have a moment to ask a question or a moment to get a photo," said Michelle Mouton, a professor at Cornell College at a Warren house party in Mount Vernon.

Mouton, who has yet to decide for whom she'll caucus in February, posted her photo with Warren on Facebook. She, like others before her and others after her, also asked the senator a question.

It's in these selfie lines where Warren says she's able to connect with her supporters in a different way than her competitors do.

"For me, you know, because I do the selfie lines, it's often the people who come through and get to say just to me, 'Here's what I want you to hear,'" Warren said.

Earlier that week, in Indianola, Warren said a couple explained to her they had amassed $100,000 in medical bills when he developed an aneurysm and she was diagnosed with cancer, even though they had "gold-plated" health insurance. They asked her to keep fighting for "Medicare for All," she said.

"It's a lot of individual stories I get to hear," Warren said.

Her campaign team estimates she's taken more than 10,000 selfies in Iowa.

'2 cents'

What started at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair has now become a rally cry from supporters at Warren's events. Since then, nearly every Iowa crowd erupts into a chant of "2 cents! 2 cents!" when the candidate explains her "ultra-millionaires" tax and what it can pay for.

"All we're saying is, when you make it to the top, pitch in 2 cents so everybody else gets a chance to make it in America," she says, before the chant starts its ripple.

Her plan, which would impose a 2% tax on fortunes over $50 million, would fund universal child care and pre-kindergarten, provide tuition-free college, invest $50 billion into historically black colleges, and cancel student loan debt for an estimated 42 million people, she says.

"2 cents! 2 cents!" with an image of Warren on two pennies is now a Raygun T-shirt. The shirt comes in the campaign's signature "liberty green" after an Iowa organizer requested it and tweeted the company the color code.

Two organizers regularly appear at events wearing cardboard pennies. A 25-foot inflatable dog, a likeness inspired by the senator's own pup, Bailey, wore two pennies on its collar at her rally before the Iowa Democratic Party's Liberty and Justice Celebration early this month.

A plan for plans

At every Iowa event, Warren says six words that have come to define her campaign: "I've got a plan for that."

The phrase encapsulates a key way she has branded herself in this campaign — taking complicated policies and ideas and boiling them down into a form that is instantly recognizable.

When Iowans across the state tell Warren about their struggles affording health care, paying student loan debt or finding quality child care at a reasonable price, she replies with the catchphrase. Then she launches into the systemic reason for the problem, her plan to fix it, and how she will pay for it.

Warren has created a policy-rich campaign focused on "rewriting the basic rules in our economy" that she says now favor the wealthy and leaves behind working families. She has rolled out more policy proposals than any other presidential candidate in the 2020 cycle.

On-the-ground organizing

Several Iowa Democrats have said Warren has built an Iowa team that has the most sophisticated organizational presence in the state.

It started when Warren announced a presidential exploratory committee. That same week, she made her first trip to Iowa, announced she had hired four of the state's top Democratic political operatives and then quickly built one of the state’s largest organizing teams.

"If she ends up winning this, one of the factors very well may be that she took the time to recruit top talent and have that talent in place and focused on a plan before announcing," said Matt Paul, a Des Moines operative who ran Hillary Clinton’s 2016 Iowa caucus campaign but does not have a favorite for 2020. "That continues to pay dividends."

Bagniewski, the Polk County Democrats chair, said Warren's focus on organization has continued in the 11 months since. The local party affiliate asked all Democratic campaigns for help finding 40 precinct captains for caucus night. Warren's campaign was the only one to offer volunteers — and her staff found 20 people in fewer than 48 hours, he said.

"Their organization is one of the best in the field, if not the best," he said. "They're very conscientious and thoughtful on the way they give back to the party and their community."

The campaign's on-the-ground organizing — canvassing every weekend, "Pints and Policy" discussions, game nights, a community garden and phone banking — also caught the eye of Our Iowa Values, a Republican-leaning Super PAC.

"Elizabeth Warren has earned her place in the polls," the organization tweeted in August. "Iowa Values has been running a massive field effort across Iowa since our launch and we have only run into canvassers from one campaign anywhere in the state — Warren for President."

Her campaign focuses on organizing at major candidate events in Iowa, too. At the Polk County Steak Fry, Warren's team turned the rally site outside the venue into an "organizing HQ," where the staff trained volunteers to canvass the crowds inside.

Warren volunteers bearing clipboards and trailing “liberty green” floating balloons fanned out across the massive event space. (Sanders' campaign took a similar approach at that event, but knocked on area doors instead.)

At the Iowa Democratic Party's Liberty and Justice Celebration on Nov. 1, the campaign team participated early in the day in sign wars and loud chants. But it also used the opportunity to host a caucus-night training for its supporters gathered from across the state.

Warren made a surprise visit to thank volunteers for knocking on doors, making phone calls and engaging people in conversation while in line at the grocery store.

"Every time you do that, you not only add to our campaign, you not only increase our chances that we win come November 2020 — you repair a little thread of democracy," she said. "I'm so deeply proud of what we’re doing together."

Reporters Brianne Pfannenstiel and Anna Spoerre contributed to this story.

Kim Norvell covers Elizabeth Warren, as well as growth and development for the Register. Reach her at knorvell@dmreg.com or 515-284-8259.

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