At around the same time as 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 Tuesday, but instead of flying, Clinton decided she wanted to pack up a van — that she refers to as the "Scooby" van because of a resemblance to the van from 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 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 a Sunday afternoon Clinton email announcing her candidacy.
NPR's Tamara Keith contributed to this report.
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