Hillary Clinton on Tuesday welcomed a hard fought Democratic presidential primary as rival Bernie Sanders continues to draw large crowds and cut into her double-digit lead among Democrats in key states.
“This is going to be competitive, it should be competitive,” Clinton told reporters after a town hall event in Iowa City, Iowa. “It’s only the presidency of the United States we’re talking about. The more, the better.”
Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont who is running as a Democrat, has drawn attention to his candidacy by drawing thousands at campaign rallies and making inroads among Democrats in early voting states.
“Let’s get everybody out there, let’s get everybody running their own campaigns. And then we’ll leave it up to Iowa to decide what happens in February.”
Clinton still maintains a comfortable lead over Sanders, who has drawn his largest crowds in places outside the early primary and caucus states.
Clinton also told reporters that the economic turmoil in Greece is a “tragedy,” and said it is “imperative a deal be worked out” between the country and the rest of Europe.
Before speaking to reporters, the former secretary of state held a town hall in Iowa where she said it is imperative the country elect a Democratic president in 2016 to continue the country’s economic gains. Clinton said both President Barack Obama and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, inherited a bleak economic forecast they were forced to fix.
“We cannot afford to go back to the failed economic policies of the past,” she said. “We have to be committed to electing a Democrat who will build on what works, who will actually look at the evidence.”
