Seven years after her failed campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination, Hillary Clinton returned to the midwestern U.S. state of Iowa Tuesday just two days after formally announcing her 2016 campaign for the White House.
Clinton will meet with students and teachers at a small community college in the town of Monticello as part of a two-day tour of the state, which traditionally holds the first party nominating vote during a presidential election year. The former first lady, U.S. senator and secretary of state arrived in Iowa Monday after a two-day, 1,770-kilometer drive from her home in New York with a small contingent of aides and Secret Service guards. Two stops in Pennsylvania and Ohio were caught on camera and spread quickly over social and conventional media.
Meet and greet
Unlike her 2008 campaign, Clinton is beginning her 2016 bid with a series of low-key meetings with potential voters, similar to the "listening tour" she undertook in her first Senate campaign in New York in 2000. She enters the race as the clear favorite to win the Democratic nomination, but is eager to show she is not taking the nomination for granted, as many observers believe she did in 2008, when she was defeated by President Barack Obama.
Clinton is the first major Democrat to officially enter the race to succeed Mr. Obama, who is barred from seeking a third term.
On the Republican side, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida announced his presidential campaign Monday in Miami. The 43-year-old son of Cuban immigrants is the third Republican to officially enter the race for the 2016 presidential nomination, joining fellow Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker and former Florida Governor Jeb Bush are also expected to run.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.
