SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) – National polls notwithstanding, Hillary Clinton is guarding against complacency as she travels along the snow-covered fields of Iowa.
“I need you,” she says repeatedly on the rope-line between handshakes and selfies.
Wary of another mishap in Iowa, Clinton is preaching a message of urgency, challenging her supporters to dig in during the final month before the state’s lead-off presidential caucus. She casts her candidacy as a check against Republicans and avoids mentioning her main Democratic rival, Bernie Sanders, whose polling numbers remain at striking distance.
Clinton’s presidential bid faltered in Iowa in 2008, when she finished third against then-Sens. Barack Obama and John Edwards. She defeated Obama in the New Hampshire primary but the future president prevailed after outlasting Clinton in a series of contests during the spring.