des moines, iowa <u+2014>true-blue democratic activists at a party fundraising dinner friday night were positively giddy to have two possible presidential contenders there live and in person <u+2014> martin o'malley and jim webb <u+2014> and their frontrunner, hillary clinton, ready to dive into the race.









but they've got plenty of questions on their minds for clinton, who kicked off her campaign sunday, and her potential challengers for the democratic nomination. here's what they had to say in interviews with the des moines register at the polk county democrats' spring dinner:









1. will clinton start to stand for something?









it has been nearly eight years since clinton campaigned here, and no one knows what to expect, said many of the activists gathered at a labor union hall in des moines.









they're wondering: has she grown into a more conservative democrat over the years? or will she take cues from ultra-left heartthrob sen. elizabeth warren of massachusetts and have the guts to stand tall on progressive issues? will she have what it takes to capture the aspirations of the people?









"i'm a hillary supporter, but i haven't closed my mind to say, 'it's hillary or nobody,'" said joan thorup, a des moines beaverdale resident who has already met o'malley three times. "things may have changed since the last time i saw her on the campaign trail."









several union members taking a smoke break outside the united auto workers hall where the dinner was held said the last time they heard clinton speak, at the harkin steak fry in september, she said nothing substantive.









asked how she can reignite a blaze of passion in iowa, earl agan jr. answered, "i don't think she can." he's business manager for the operative plasterers & cement masons' international association local no. 21 and area 561 iowa. "we've had too many clintons and bushes. i won't vote for her."









agan blanches at news reports about clinton's family foundation accepting millions of dollars from middle eastern countries known for violence against women, sex discrimination and other human rights abuses. "it doesn't play well," he said.









but several of agan's fellow labor activists said if clinton gives some home-run speeches detailing how she'd deal with income inequality, she could win allegiance.









other iowa democrats said they're confident that the corporate marketing geniuses who have taken leaves of absence from their high-powered jobs to help the clinton campaign will know how to refresh an older brand.









2. what will the dividing lines be?









what tack can possible democratic challengers like former maryland governor martin o'malley and former senator jim webb of virginia take to successfully pry iowa voters away from clinton?









"i'm not sure how they'll draw distinctions," patty judge, a former lieutenant governor, said after listening to both men's speeches. "they're both great guys, and they both have a great story to tell, but how they're going to distinguish themselves, i don't know."









several democrats, describing the economy and personal prosperity as base issues, said the dividing line will be ideas for championing the middle class. some have voiced misgivings about clinton's corporate connections, said rick smith, an urbandale-based democrat known as a super-activist.









other democrats said they'll be hunting for the contender who's most fierce on climate change.









another likely litmus test will be the iraq war and what clinton says about dealing with the islamic state and the instability it has spawned. some anti-war iowans will never forgive clinton for her "yes" vote 12 years ago in favor of going to war in iraq, several activists said.









and the general election may well turn on foreign policy, smith predicted.









in webb's iowa speech friday night, his refrain was that he took principled stances. it wasn't easy to be one of the earliest to say the iraq war was wrong, he said. but five months before the vote, he wrote a guest piece for the washington post saying the war was going to be a "strategic blunder," he said.









3. will any laborers migrate to the gop?









a moderate gop presidential candidate who supports construction of projects like the keystone xl and bakken pipelines could attract democratic building trades workers tired of the big environmental lobby blocking projects that could put iowa laborers to work.









several union members told the register that the reality is that the united states isn't going to divest from oil, and they believe the country can have pipelines and a clean environment at the same time.









o'malley opposes the keystone line and told the register he didn't know details about the bakken line, which would cross iowa, but likely opposes it. clinton has yet to fully explain her position on the keystone pipeline. webb is a proponent of it.









iowa activists are also worried that republicans will out-democrat the democrats with compelling populist ideas. republicans will argue that the gop can best help working people improve their lives.









"i often hear people say there's no difference in the parties. i try not to get mad but say, 'can we talk'?" smith told the dinner audience.









4. will clinton engage in a real battle with fellow democrats?









every activist the register interviewed at the dinner proclaimed joy that o'malley and webb appear on the cusp of presidential bids. they also still hope warren and vermont u.s. sen. bernie sanders run, partly to pull clinton to the left.









"i'm open to them all," said desmund adams, a clive businessman. "i don't think the passion is connected to the candidate. the passion is connected to the politics."









"folks want to see a democrat win. that's what pays the bills," said adams, who has launched an exploratory committee as he considers running for congress in iowa's 3rd district.









several democrats said they will be watching to see whether clinton engages in a real battle with her challengers, rather than ignoring them or pussy-footing around them with kind words.









5. will clinton shout down the gop?









not only do iowa democrats want a vigorous democrat-on-democrat fight for the caucuses, they want to see their presidential contenders play hard with the gop, hitting back with satisfying, quotable one-liners.









"we cannot let them get away with these misstatements, these constant misstatements of the facts," smith said.









des moines democrat sophia douglas noted republicans' furor over clinton using a private email server as secretary of state, which has thwarted public scrutiny of her messages. after dealing with plenty of "faux scandals" like that, she said, "the clintons should know better by now."









douglas said the gop battle cry over the benghazi, libya, terrorist attacks that killed four americans didn't seem to rattle clinton. "i loved how she was looking at them like, 'i can eat you for breakfast, lunch and dinner,'" douglas said. "she knows how to throw a punch, and she knows how to take a punch."









when wisconsin gov. scott walker goes on his anti-labor rants, the iowa activists said they want their candidates to stand up to him and explain to iowans how repugnant that is.









and they're fed up with the gop contenders dominating the newspaper headlines and airwaves.









"it drives me crazy," said jerry tormey, an urbandale democrat. "we're not getting equal time. and they're saying such ludicrous stuff. so we need hillary.









"and we need martin o'malley," tormey added. "and we need elizabeth warren and bernie sanders."
as hillary clinton heads to iowa, 5 questions she'll face
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