I'm in to win, Hillary tells US

Washington: Senator Hillary Clinton jumped into the fray as a 2008 presidential candidate with the words "I'm in" posted on her website.

"And I'm in to win," she added in a statement, announcing she has set up an exploratory committee that can gauge opinions and raise money for a presidential campaign.

The former first lady and Democratic Senator from New York is considered her party's front-runner in what has become a diverse Democratic field.

Should she win, she would be the first woman to serve as president of the United States and the first presidential spouse to do so as well. President Bill Clinton served two terms from 1993 to 2001.

On Tuesday, Democrat Senator Barack Obama announced that he was filing papers to form a presidential exploratory committee, a bid to become the first African-American president.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, also a Democrat, is expected to announce his bid, one that could make him the first Latino president.

Bringing "the right end" to the war in Iraq, reducing the deficit, making the country energy independent and health care affordable were issues Clinton touted in her announcement, speaking on a video posted on her site.

"After six years of George Bush, it is time to renew the promise of America," she said.

"I grew up in a middle-class family and we believed in that promise," the 59-year-old Chicago native said.

In the video, she invited Americans to join her in a three-night series of live video web chats beginning on Monday.

"So let's talk. Let's chat, let's start a dialogue about your ideas and mine, because the conversation in Washington has been just a little one-sided lately, don't you think?” she asked.

She'll travel next weekend to Iowa and later to New Hampshire, two kickoff states for the Democratic presidential nominating process in 2008, according to her campaign organisers.

When Clinton launched her Senate bid in New York in 1999, she began a "listening tour" around the state to explore views on education, business and health care issues.

Her Republican opponent, Rick Lazio, called her a "carpetbagger" because she had not previously lived in New York. But she beat him, becoming the first sitting first lady to win an elected office, and was re-elected last year with 67 per cent of the vote.