By JILL GARDINER

Staff Reporter of the Sun

DES MOINES, Iowa — Senator Clinton, Democrat of New York, blamed President Bush on Saturday for misusing authority given him by Congress to act in Iraq, but conceded “I take responsibility” for her role in authorizing the war in 2002.

Of her husband, the former president, she said he would have a role in the campaign but “I’m the one running for president.”

Mrs. Clinton was making her first campaign swing through this early nominating state, which twice voted for President Clinton. She met with key activists and spent part of the day in front of a packed auditorium telling supporters that the country won’t know whether it can elect a female president until it tries.

“I know there are people who either say or wonder, would we ever elect a woman a woman president?” Mrs. Clinton said to cheers of excitement from the crowd. “I don’t think we’ll know until we try. And I’m going to try.”

“I believe that I have a lifetime of experiences as well as qualifications from all the work that I’ve done that make me particularly well prepared to take office in January 2009,” she said as she pitched herself to more than 1,000 people in the audience and several thousand more who watched on at a spillover facility.

The event — an hour-long town hall style meeting — was Mrs. Clinton’s first public stop in this state in two years and it is likely to be the first of many visits she makes here before next January’s crucial caucus.

The junior senator and former first lady seemed to relish in the chance to “start a conversation” with Iowans. She hit on that theme a number of times, telling the fawning crowd that she would be coming to their living rooms and churches and to talk to them in the coming months.

After walking into the gymnasium to the 1990s song “Right Here, Right Now,” Mrs. Clinton fielded eight non-confrontational questions ranging from teacher’s pay to the education legislation called No Child Left Behind Act.

She introduced herself as a Midwesterner from a middle class family, but said the country has failed live up to the “basic bargain” with Americans. She said it is time to provide universal health care and to reduce dependency on foreign oil by taking subsidies from the oil companies and creating a fund to invest in alternative fuels. She also took on CEO pay, saying it has hit “outrageous” levels.

Mrs. Clinton also met with leaders at the Iowa Democratic Party Headquarters, and got laughs when telling them: “I thought I’d drop by. I was just looking around for something to do on a Saturday.”

She was, however, pressed to defend her 2002 vote in favor of the Iraq war and said she “may have a slightly different take on this than some of the people who come through here.”

“I’ve taken responsibility for my vote. But there are no do-overs in life. I wish there were,” she told about 50 Democratic activists. “I acted on the best judgment I had at the time. I said this was not a vote for preemptive war. The president took my vote, and others’ votes, and basically misused the authority we gave him.”

Meanwhile, former Governor Vilsack of Iowa another Democratic contender for the White House said in an interview with The New York Sun that capping the troops levels — which Mrs. Clinton supports — will not improve the situation.

One woman, Jeanne Dietrich, drove two hours from Omaha, Nebraska, with her son, Brian Dietrich, to the Iowa Democratic Party Headquarters, which is located in a squat building off of a busy road of big-box stores and chain restaurants.

The two, who are un-decided voters, have traveled across the country to get autographs from dozens of political figures and entertainers, ranging from Senator Obama, Mrs. Clinton’s top rival, to B.B. King.

A financial planner who lives in Des Moines and attended the town hall meeting, Merlynd “Metz” Metcalf, said he was impressed with Mrs. Clinton, but disappointed that she emphasized the “woman thing.”

“People are going to vote for her as the best candidate, because she has the best vision,” he said.

While nationwide polls show that Mrs. Clinton is leading her Democratic 2008 challengers with about 40%, Iowa polls show that she has been trailing in Iowa. This trip seems strategically designed to start making headway with caucus voters here.

As for one of her chief rivals, Senator Obama of Illinois, Mrs Clinton told the Associated Press that she would not cede black votes to Senator Obama, Democrat of Illinois, and that she had proven as a senator that gender is irrelevant.

“I’m going to be asking for the votes of all Americans,” she told the Associated Press.

The former first lady also said she has learned the lessons of the last two presidential campaigns, both lost by Democrats who responded slowly to criticism.

“When you are attacked, you have to deck your opponent,” Mrs. Clinton was quoted by the Associated Press as having said. “I have been through the political wars longer than some of you have been alive. We’ve got to be prepared to hold our ground and fight back.”

Mrs. Clinton, who announced her candidacy last weekend, said Democrats cannot concede the security issue.

“We have to nominate someone who can have the trust and confidence of the American people to make the tough decisions as commander in chief,” she said, according to the Associated Press. “That is the threshold issue.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.