Chuck Schumer is more than ready for 2016. The New York senator gave one of the first endorsements of the upcoming presidential election Saturday night in Iowa when he backed Hillary Clinton. With Clinton at the top of the ticket, Schumer said the Democrats can “vanquish Ted Cruz, Tea Party Republicans in 2016.” “It’s time for a woman to be president,” Schumer told the crowd of 750 Democratic supporters, who rose to their feet with enthusiastic applause. Clinton did not respond immediately to Schumer’s remarks, although she told New York magazine in September she will make a decision on running “soon,” but she’s “not in any hurry.”
"It's time for a woman to be president," Schumer said as people rose to their feet with enthusiastic applause. "And so tonight here in Iowa, and I won't get this opportunity again, I am urging Hillary Clinton to run for president and, when she does, she will have my full and unwavering support. You know her well: as first lady, senator, secretary and as a wife and mother. Hillary's experience is unrivaled and her vision is unparalleled."
Clinton aides did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the remarks.
Polls show that Clinton would be the leading contender for the Democratic nomination if she were to run. She told New York magazine in an article published in September that she was wrestling with whether to run again and offered no timeline for an announcement.
"I'm not in any hurry. I think it's a serious decision, not to be made lightly, but it's also not one that has to be made soon," Clinton told the magazine.
