Clinton announces presidential campaign, hops in a van to Iowa

At around the same time that Hillary Clinton's campaign team in Brooklyn, N.Y., was hitting "send" on the emails and tweets that officially launched Clinton's presidential campaign, the former first lady was hitting the road — in a van.

Clinton was scheduled to be in Iowa on Tuesday, but instead of flying, she decided she wanted to pack up a van — which she refers to as the "Scooby" van because of its resemblance to the van from the Scooby Doo cartoon — and chat with people along the way.

Along for the ride from New York to Iowa are a couple of aides and a slimmed-down Secret Service detail. The former secretary of state hasn't driven a car in almost 20 years, she admitted last year, and Secret Service is very likely driving, per usual, on this trip.

The cat was out of the bag when she stopped at a gas station in Pennsylvania, talked with some people there and someone who spotted her called one of the TV networks, a campaign aide said.

Of course, any campaign would know that, at some point, someone as well-known as Clinton would be recognized.

Clinton is slated to make two days of stops in Iowa before heading to New Hampshire. It's all part of a slow launch, "ramping up to a campaign kickoff in mid-May," according to the Sunday afternoon email announcing her candidacy.

NPR's Tamara Keith contributed to this report. Copyright 2019 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.