But on Wednesday — as Vice President Joe Biden participated in a conference call with Democratic National Committee members to discuss the Iran deal and insert himself further into the 2016 conversation — that restorative downtime was abruptly interrupted.

Clinton arrived at the school here outside Des Moines to discuss rural policies that affect Iowa’s agriculture industry — the first of three campaign stops for the day. She was scheduled to tour the state with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa, by her side — the first member of President Barack Obama’s Cabinet to make an endorsement in the race.

The message Clinton sent from her perch in front of the tractor was clear — you can run against me, but I’m here 24/7, campaigning with the support of members of the Obama administration, and I’m not letting any controversies stand in my way.

The contrast between the two worlds Clinton occupied Wednesday was stark: The median household income in Des Moines is $61,526. Clinton’s Hamptons rental home costs almost that much — per week.

But if the Hamptons are where Clinton feels at home among donors and friends, it’s in the details of policy that she feels at home while campaigning.

In Ankeny, a small city outside Des Moines, Clinton unveiled proposals on rural policy, an issue that allowed her to speak directly to Iowa voters and shore up her support in the early caucus state where she came in third in 2008. She called for half a billion solar panels to be installed across the country within four years and enough energy production from renewables to power every home in America within the next decade. She said she would make it a priority to “put special focus on expanding high-speed Internet to connect rural areas to the global economy” and to simplify regulations for community banks.

“Other candidates may be out fighting for a particular ideology, but I am fighting for you,” Clinton said, trying to distinguish herself from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ campaign. “It is imperative that we have a comprehensive plan to revitalize rural America.”

It was not the sexiest topic, and Clinton’s first stop in Iowa was reminiscent of her early, tentative steps out onto the campaign trail. She was back at a community college, touring the school’s center for advanced manufacturing before getting into dry policy issues in front of a controlled crowd of about 200 Iowans. Clinton read her speech slowly off a teleprompter, and the crowd was supportive if low in energy. Her other two stops of the day took her to Sioux City, in the northwest region of the state, and Baldwin, to the east. She was scheduled to return to the Hamptons after attending the DNC meeting in Minneapolis on Friday, where she will attend three long-planned fundraisers over the weekend.

The timing of Clinton’s August break coincided with the rockiest patch of her campaign to date — more questions have arisen as to how she handled classified information on her private email server at the State Department, she has dropped in recent polls, and Biden has become a growing threat that could create a civil war in the Democratic Party.

The Iowa trip, announced last week, put the candidate back in rotation.

“At a minimum, it means she’s shoring up her support, she’s showing the flag,” said Cary Covington, assistant professor of political science at the University of Iowa. “You don’t want to be seen as asleep at the switch, or taking anything for granted.”

Clinton also wants to hold onto her lead in Iowa, insiders said.

Iowa, which spurned Clinton in 2007, has become her strongest early state in polls this time around. A survey out Tuesday from Suffolk University showed her enjoying 54 percent support of likely Iowa caucus participants. Sanders trailed her with 20 percent, and Biden, who has yet to decide if he will run, had 11 percent. Sanders has been beating Clinton in some recent New Hampshire polls.

In Ankeny, Vilsack introduced Clinton as “the best person from my party to win this election,” a hint of what Clinton’s argument might be if Biden gets in the race. “This is a woman who will listen to us, will fight for us, make sure we win this election, and when she does, she will deliver for us,” he said.

Vilsack denied that his endorsement Tuesday night was timed to send a message to Biden. “I didn’t time this endorsement,” said Vilsack, who also endorsed Clinton in 2008. “This is something that Secretary Clinton and I had talked about.”

And when asked by reporters about Biden’s potential run, Clinton spoke emotionally about the personal turmoil the vice president is going through. “I was at his son’s funeral, I mean, I cannot even imagine the grief and the heartbreak,” she said. “Joe has had more terrible events than most people can even contemplate — losing his first wife, losing his first daughter, now losing his son. He has to do what he has to do. I’m going to continue with my campaign. I’m going to do what I believe I should be doing.”

For Clinton, that means firing attacks at the Republican field. “They pay lip service to rural America every chance they get,” she said. “They would give billions of taxpayer dollars to oil companies that are already successful instead of investing in the renewable energy of tomorrow.”

On immigration, she said many Republican candidates still want to deport millions of hard-working immigrants. “Don’t get distracted by the flamboyant front-runner,” she said of Trump, who spoke at a packed rally in Dubuque, Iowa, on Tuesday night. “Most of the Republican candidates are just Trump without the pizazz and the hair.”