2nd LD Writethru: Hillary Clinton enters 2016 presidential race

Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Sunday launched her long-awaited second presidential bid and promised to be a champion for ordinary American families.

"I'm running for president," Clinton said in a video released on her official campaign website. "Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion."

Clinton's campaign is expected to portray her as a fighter for economic fortunes of the middle class and working families with her first campaign video featuring ordinary Americans depicting their aspirations.

"Americans have fought their way back from tough economic times, but the deck is still stacked in favor of those at the top," said Clinton.

After her defeat to Barack Obama in 2008, Clinton firmly said " no" when asked whether she would run for presidency again. However, her positions have evolved in the past years.

The Clinton camp has already signed a lease for a new office space in Brooklyn, New York, as her campaign headquarters.

"I wanted to make sure you heard it first from me -- it's official: Hillary's running for president," said John Podesta, Clinton's campaign manager, earlier Sunday in an emailed statement to donors and members of Clinton's 2008 presidential bid.

Podesta said Clinton is on her way to the early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire to meet voters, adding that a formal rally will be held next month.

"So I'm hitting the road to earn your vote. Because it's your time. And I hope you'll join me on this journey," Clinton said at the end of the video.

Clinton is the first Democratic candidate to throw her hat in the ring for the 2016 White House run. So far, two Republican senators, Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, have already announced their 2016 White House bid.

Unlike Republicans presidential hopefuls jockeying for position in a crowded 2016 Republican primary, with a dozen Republicans expressing serious interest in a 2016 bid, Clinton enjoys a rather easy path to capture the Democratic nomination with a staggering lead over her potential rivals within the Democratic party. The year 2016 could also witness for the first time a woman ever wins a major U.S. party's presidential nomination.

According to a CNN/ORC poll in March, party support for potential Democratic candidates was predominately focused on Hillary Clinton with a rate of 62 percent, with the second top contender vice president Joe Biden standing at 15 percent.

Clinton was also found to beat all the major potential Republican rivals in a hypothetical general election in the same poll.

However, instead of kicking off her second and most likely the last presidential campaign smoothly, Clinton entered the 2016 race in the midst of questions about why she had closely guarded her emails by using a private email address and server while at the State Department.

House Republicans investigating the 2012 deadly attacks in the U.S. Benghazi embassy and Clinton's suspicious emailing habits said recently that Clinton's official entry into the 2016 presidential run would not have any bearing on their investigation. Endite