Ms Hillary Rodham Clinton strolled down a country lane into what could be the most frenzied Senate race in recent history. Beside her, pointing out the striking scenery was the farm owner who happens to be Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan whose New York Senate seat Mrs Clinton has set her formidable sights on.
Yesterday was a bizarre start to her campaign set against the backdrop of the wooded acres of the Moynihan farm but facing about 200 of the US and world media who peppered her with questions about why on Earth she was doing this, and if she was a "victim of Monica Lewinsky".
The Monica question was ignored as the First Lady, wearing a navy trouser suit, blandly replied that "New Yorkers will have a lot to tell me". And she will be listening.
This four-day swing through rural upstate New York is billed by her handlers as her "Listening Tour." If she can shake off her media circus she will try and meet small groups with which she will discuss her favourite issues of education and health care.
Senator Moynihan, who towered over the First Lady, promised to "go all the way with her" in the campaign, which is a relief to her as relations between them have not been too warm since he helped bring down her ambitious universal healthcare project six years ago.
The little town of Oneonta a few miles away was pleased to be hosting this historic event. It is the first time a First Lady has run for office from the White House. Mrs Clinton later visited their National Soccer Hall of Fame where she unveiled a 20ft sphere which looks like a football exploding the museum's wall.
As a wannabe senator she is doing a crash course on sports and will visit the shrine of baseball in nearby Cooperstown today.
After lunch yesterday at Brooks House of Bar-B-Qs, where the owner says proudly that "our chickens are our claim to fame", Mrs Clinton headed to the local college of the State University to do some more "listening."
Coming down the narrow road from the Moynihan farm she had to pass some protesters carrying posters saying: "Queen Hillary, Go Home" and "Hillary Listen: Go Home." A poster saying "This is Rudy country" reminded her that she will probably be facing the formidable Mayor of New York, Mr Rudy Giuliani, in the Senate election which is still a long 16 months away. He is trying to pour scorn on the "carpetbagger" challenger from the White House by boasting of how well he knows New York outside Manhattan.
Asked about the "carpetbagger" charge, Mrs Clinton replied mildly that it was "a very fair question" and it was "very legitimate" for New Yorkers to raise it and she looked forward to "listening" to what they would have to say. And she dropped a reminder that this was an "exploratory" phase of her campaign. "If I run and get elected I will be a strong and effective advocate of the people of New York."
The local newspaper recalled that another Democratic contender for a New York Senate seat who was not from New York flew into Oneonta two days before he was elected. This was Robert Kennedy in November 1964.
Reuters adds:
President Clinton yesterday toured the poverty-stricken Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the scenic but desolate Black Hills of South Dakota and promised to find a way to "fix this" economic crisis that has driven so many to despair.
With an unemployment rate of 73 per cent, and a lack of basics like indoor running water in some homes, Mr Clinton came to promote his administration's efforts to build new homes on the reservation, but quickly learned that lack of jobs posed the greatest problem.
Of all the places Mr Clinton will visit during his four-day tour of depressed areas, Pine Ridge and other Indian reservations pose perhaps the greatest challenge to his drive to create "new markets" for the socially excluded.
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Mrs Hillary Rodham Clinton at their joint press conference near Oneonta yesterday.