NEW YORK - Declaring "I'm in to win," Democratic Senator Hillary Clinton launched her 2008 presidential bid that could make her the first female president of the United States.

U.S. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) is pictured on the home page of her presidential campaign's website, in this screen grab released on January 20, 2007. Clinton said on Saturday she planned to form an exploratory committee for the 2008 presidential race, the first step toward becoming a candidate for her party's nomination. Clinton said she would be launching a series of live, online video conversations with voters, beginning on Monday. [Reuters]

Clinton, the wife of former president Bill Clinton, lashed out at President George W. Bush in a video on her website as she ended years of speculation over her political ambitions to declare she was joining the race.

"I'm in. And I'm in to win," she said in a video on her website.

"As a senator, I will spend two years doing everything in my power to limit the damage George W. Bush can do. But only a new president will be able to undo Bush's mistakes and restore our hope and optimism," said Clinton, 59.

Clinton, just beginning her second term representing New York in the Senate, announced she was taking the key first official step for the race for her party's nomination and the White House with the formation of a campaign exploratory committee.

She joins a field of six other Democrats who have taken initial steps toward vying for their party's nomination to run for president in 2008, including Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record), an Illinois senator hoping to be the first black president.

Clinton's announcement closed speculation dating back to her first run for Senate in 2000 that she was keen to move back into the White House and replace Bush, who is serving a second and last four-year term.

"Only a new president can renew the promise of America - the idea that if you work hard, you can count on the health care, education and retirement security that you need to raise your family. These are the basic values of America that are under attack from this administration every day," Clinton said Saturday.

An Illinois-bred corporate lawyer who attended prestigious Yale Law School, Clinton put Americans on notice early in her husband's 1992 presidential campaign that she was "not the kind of woman who stays at home baking cookies."

But Republican conservatives bristled at the idea that in electing Bill Clinton as president, voters were also getting the cerebral Hillary in a great two-for-one bargain.

Her official announcement that she is setting up an exploratory committee launches what will likely prove one of the most-watched primary battles in decades, between two would-be "firsts" -- potentially the first female and the first African-American US president.

In a new poll released Saturday, Clinton held a wide lead over Obama for their party's nomination.

Clinton outpaced Obama - who joined the race Tuesday - 41 percent to 17 percent in the poll by ABC News and The Washington Post. The survey was taken January 16-19.

On the Republican side, seven presidential hopefuls have taken steps toward contesting their own party's nomination.

Obama, who announced he was setting up an exploratory committee on Tuesday, said he will announce his final decision about running on February 10 in Illinois after touring the country.

He said Saturday: "Senator Clinton is a good friend and a colleague whom I greatly respect. I welcome her and all the candidates, not as competitors, but as allies in the work of getting our country back on track."

Clinton, too, underscored the need to steer the country in a different direction.

"This is a big election with some very big questions. How do we bring the war in Iraq to the right end? How can we make sure every American has access to adequate health care? How will we ensure our children inherit a clean environment and energy independence? How can we reduce the deficits that threaten Social Security and Medicare?" she asked.

She also announced that she would hold chats on the Internet in coming days to listen to voters' views.

Clinton slammed Bush for damaging the United States' international stature. "Only a new president can regain America's position as a respected leader in the world," she said.

She did not dwell on a the idea that her presidency would be a first for a US woman.

But she acknowledged: "As we campaign to win the White House, we will make history and remake our future. We can only break barriers if we dare to confront them, and if we have the determined and committed support of others."

Clinton though faces a battle between her image as a deeply polarizing figure and a Washington and Democratic party insider.

Were she to become president, her husband, who served two terms, would take on the unprecedented and so far undefined role of first male US presidential spouse.

When her husband was in office, opponents of Hillary Clinton's own influential advisory role argued the first lady had undue powers as an unelected person. Bill Clinton now could face similar scrutiny should Hillary Clinton be sent back to the White House, as president.