KEY POINTS:
NEW YORK - US Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, in her first public appearance since joining the 2008 White House race, said on Sunday she wanted to become US president because she was "worried about the future of our country."
The former first lady, appearing at a health clinic in Manhattan to promote expanded health insurance for children, faced a mob of journalists eager to quiz her on her historic campaign to be the first female US president.
Clinton, 59, announced her widely anticipated bid to seek the Democratic Party's presidential nomination on Saturday with a statement on her website declaring: "I'm in. And I'm in to win."
"I'm worried about the future of our country, and I want to help put it back on the right course so that we can work together to meet the challenges that confront us at home and abroad," she said.
"I am best-positioned to be able to do that, and that's why I'm running," Clinton added.
The second-term US senator from New York leads a pool of Democratic hopefuls, including Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who is expected to be her main competitor within the party and whose bid could make him the first black president.
Also today, Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico announced he was seeking the party's nomination. He would be the first Hispanic US president.
"It will be a great contest with a lot of talented people," Clinton said of the race for the nomination. "I'm very confident."
Clinton, the wife of former President Bill Clinton, held a large lead in the Democratic race in a Washington Post-ABC News poll taken last week before she announced her candidacy. She was the favorite of 41 per cent of Democrats polled, more than double the 17 per cent, second-place rating scored by Obama.
Clinton made history with her bid for the US Senate in New York in 2000, becoming the first former first lady to win one of the most powerful political jobs in the United States.
'Thorough review'
Supporters and detractors alike have believed for years that Clinton had White House ambitions, and she said since her re-election to a second US Senate term in November she had made a "thorough review" of the problems facing the nation and "the particular strengths and talents that I would bring both to the race and to the White House."
She said she chose to run "based on the work of my lifetime and my experience and my understanding of what our country has to confront in order to continue to make opportunity available to all of our citizens here and to restore our leadership and respect for America around the world."
Her campaign will enjoy the political benefits of her husband who, despite his scandal-hit presidency, is enormously popular and is a powerful fund-raiser.
Asked what role he and daughter Chelsea would play in the race, she said, "They're my greatest support system, my greatest advisers and they'll continue to do that."
Clinton took the first step toward becoming a candidate on Saturday by announcing plans for a presidential exploratory committee, which allows her to raise money and hire staff.
On Sunday, Clinton said she backed expansion of a government program to provide health-care coverage to children in low- and middle-income families.
The issue has long been a favourite of the former first lady, whose efforts at spearheading health-care reform during her husband's first presidential term floundered in Congress.
Clinton said she planned to campaign for health insurance for children and universal health care for Americans.
Early lead
Hillary Clinton holds a large early lead over other top candidates in the race for the Democratic US presidential nomination, said a national poll reported today in The Washington Post.
New York's Clinton was the favourite of 41 per cent of Democrats polled, more than double the 17-per cent, second-place rating scored by Illinois Senator Barack Obama, the Post said.
Former Senator John Edwards, the 2004 vice presidential nominee, placed third at 11 per cent, with former Vice President Al Gore at 10 per cent.
Massachusetts Senator John Kerry, the 2004 presidential nominee, came in at 8 per cent.
The poll was taken before Clinton announced her candidacy yesterday. Obama entered the race on Wednesday and Edwards jumped in last month.
The Post said in hypothetical general election match-ups of Clinton and top Republican candidates, the former first lady "narrowly leads Arizona Senator John McCain and is running about even with former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani."
The Washington Post-ABC News poll was a January 16-19 random sample of 1,000 adults, including 561 Democrats and Democrat-leaning independents, with a 3 percentage point error margin.
- REUTERS
