DES MOINES - - It is not as if Iowa had nothing going for it before Hillary Clinton got here.
John Wayne was born and Cary Grant died here. The state has produced one president (Herbert Hoover from West Branch) and one First Lady (Mamie Eisenhower from Boone). And it is the only state whose first two letters are vowels.
But what really gives this state its claim to fame is that this is where the presidential nominating process begins in the Iowa caucuses, scheduled to be held next January.
Numerous 2008 presidential candidates have been here numerous times in the last months and years with the exception of Hillary (as her campaign officially refers to her.)
Until today, she had not set foot in Iowa since Nov. 15, 2003, when she headlined a Jefferson-Jackson Day dinner for the state party. It was considered her first real signal that she might run for president some day.
Now that day has arrived and Hillary is back and many Iowans are almost as excited as if John Wayne and Cary Grant had come back with her.
On Thursday, one local TV station had a story about school children hand-painting signs of greeting for Hillary and another had videotape of Bonnie Campbell, a Democratic activist here, getting a phone call…from Hillary HERSELF!
Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, a Democrat, said in an interview Friday, "This is anyone's race to win, but they have to earn it and that includes going to a high school gym on a Saturday morning like Hillary is and taking tough, pertinent questions."
Iowans love to ask questions of candidates and not just once. By the end of this year, this is the joke you are going to hear out of Iowa: "I haven't decided whether I am going to vote for Hillary, yet. I have only met her five times."
"Candidates need to spend a lot of time here," Culver said. And spend lots of money. Iowa loves the money that the campaigns and media spend, but they love the attention much more.
Where else can you look up from your biscuits and gravy at the breakfast buffet in the downtown Marriot here to see Brian Williams or Tim Russert or Bob Schieffer or George Stephanopoulos waiting to get a table? Where else are you going to be able to go to your local diner and see Hillary and Barack and John and Joe and Chris and all the rest?
Culver said that John Edwards - - who has been here 17 times since 2004 -- drew 900 people when he was last in Iowa. And 900 is a big crowd in this state. Of the 953 communities in Iowa, 800 contain fewer than 1,000 people. Keep that in mind when you see crowd estimates from here.
Culver said the race was wide open in part because Hillary hasn't been here in such a long time. "This is her first trip," he said. "People admire and respect her, but this is her first test."
I asked Culver whether he was going to endorse anybody and he said, "In all likelihood I will not."
But doesn't Culver feel any obligation to his predecessor, Tom Vilsack, who is running for president?
"While Gov. Vilsack has been supportive and is certainly my friend, others have been supportive and are my friends," Culver said. And then Culver mentioned how Barack Obama had come out and campaigned for him last year.
Everyone would like Culver's endorsement, but in 2004, Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin and Al Gore and even Jimmy Carter all endorsed Howard Dean. Who then came in third here.
"We have learned endorsements, frankly, don't amount to a whole lot," Culver said.
So what does?
"Coming here and spending quality time," Culver said. "They all need to spend a lot of time here."