Hillary Clinton drives to Iowa

When Hillary Clinton said she was going to hit the road, she meant it.

The newly declared presidential candidate is on her way to Iowa, from New York, in a van after announcing her candidacy online Sunday afternoon.

The former secretary of state, who is trying to become the first female president, is set to appear in Iowa — the influential early-voting state — on Tuesday for a series of small, private events. But first, she’ll be driving with two campaign aides — Nick Merrill and Huma Abedin — making unplanned stops along the way.

While she has no planned pit stops on her road trip — which was her own idea — the candidate stopped by a gas station in Pennsylvania on Sunday. She later tweeted a picture of the stop, saying, “Road trip! Loaded the van & set off for IA. Met a great family when we stopped this afternoon. Many more to come. -H”

Clinton asked top aides whether a road trip was feasible about a month ago, one of her staffers said. Instead of a motorcade, she is traveling in a three-car caravan, the smallest possible arrangement given the former first lady’s security constraints.

“We know at some point she’ll get OJ’ed like the White Bronco,” said one campaign aide, anticipating a highly watched drive. “But it’s worth the risk. … If she gets mobbed or we have a circus-type scene, that’s one day in an 18-month campaign, and we can deal with it.”

Clinton is not filming ads during her road trip, the aide said, adding that the trip will allow Clinton to reap the political benefits of small, spontaneous events without a large crowd or media contingent. Even the launch video was filmed in-house, under the eye of digital strategist Teddy Goff, partially to avoid leaks.

Clinton’s much-anticipated launch came in the form of a Web video on Sunday afternoon, ending months of speculation about her intentions. Her campaign kickoff is expected to include a series of low-key events with private citizens, as opposed to large speeches — and her road trip reflects that plan. The presumptive Democratic front-runner is not planning any major speeches or campaign rallies until May.

Glenn Thrush contributed to this report.

Source:politico.com