Hillary Clinton has set out on a campaign road trip deep into the US heartland after launching her bid to become the first woman president with a pledge to champion "everyday Americans."
With an eye to putting behind the jetset image of a former first lady, US Secretary of State and global charity director, Clinton boarded a simple minivan as she headed from New York to Iowa on Monday.
A few hours into the surprise 1600km journey, the 67-year-old Democrat tweeted a picture of herself meeting a family at a Pennsylvania petrol station.
Long assumed to be the Democratic Party's US presidential nomination frontrunner for the 2016 race, Clinton's formal entry on Sunday unleashed her formidable fundraising machine and social media operation.
Clinton, who lost the Democratic nomination to Barack Obama in 2008, put an end to the worst-kept secret in US politics by posting an ad on her new Facebook page and website and sending links to her three million Twitter followers.
"I'm running for president," a beaming Clinton said in a slickly produced video that went viral. "Everyday Americans need a champion and I want to be that champion."
The two-minute clip featured upbeat middle-class families from a variety of backgrounds sharing their aspirations.
Her campaign team said Clinton will spend the next six to eight weeks building a grassroots organisation and "engaging directly with voters."
Her first major rally and the speech that kicks off her campaign is not expected until May, but Clinton's road trip - the van has reportedly been nicknamed "Scooby," from the classic cartoon - will take her to meet small groups of voters in Iowa.
In Iowa, the first state to vote in an election year, Clinton will talk "about how to make the economy work so everyday Americans and their families can actually get ahead and stay ahead."
"We can't take anything for granted and we'll have to fight really hard for every single vote, and that obviously starts in the primaries," said campaign manager Robby Mook.
Clinton hopes to avoid the same stumbles in 2008, when she entered the race as a heavy favourite only to be upset by Barack Obama in Iowa.
Confirmation she is running sparked a fierce Republican response.
The Republican National Committee said Clinton "has left a trail of secrecy, scandal and failed policies that can't be erased from voters' minds."
"We must do better than Hillary," tweeted former Florida governor Jeb Bush, a likely Republican opponent.
On Saturday, Clinton earned praise from Obama, who said she would make "an excellent president."
But experts warn she will have to tread a fine line in how closely she aligns herself with the incumbent US President, whose approval ratings have lingered below 50 per cent for two years.
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