``I'm not a politician and frankly that's a plus today,'' she told 400 cheering supporters in downtown Des Moines, capital of this key electoral state.

Dole chose Iowa, site of the first presidential caucus votes in 2000, to announce the creation of an exploratory committee for the Republican nomination.

``I know a lot about running in presidential campaigns, I have been involved in a lot of them,'' said the 62-year-old Republican known as `Liddy,' who campaigned for her husband Bob Dole during his failed White House bid in 1996.

As she wandered through the crowd, she touted her service under five presidents. She served as Secretary of Transportation and Labour between 1983 and 1990 before her appointment as the American Red Cross president.

Dole made it clear that she would make a final decision on whether to run only after travelingacross the country to find out what Americans want from their next president.

Dole and George W Bush, son and namesake of the former president, are the favorites to win next year's White House race and replace Bill Clinton when his second term ends in January 2001.

A Gallup poll on Wednesday gave Bush, the Texas governor, 56 percent of the vote, against 45 percent for Democratic Vice-President Al Gore and 50 percent for Dole.

The poll of 1,014 people taken on Friday through Sunday also showed 42 percent of those surveyed believe that men make better presidents against 31 percent who preferred women and 22 percent who said gender did not matter.

Those preferring men said they were better able to control their emotions and make decisions, and they cited the US tradition of electing male presidents.

Those who supported female presidents said women had more common sense, intelligence and compassion and would best represent change in American politics.

The crowded Republican field also includes formervice-president Dan Quayle, former education secretary Lamar Alexander, Ohio Congressman John Kasich, Arizona Senator John McCain, New Hampshire Senator Bob Smith, businessman Steve Forbes, television commentator Pat Buchanan and conservative activist Gary Bauer.

Republican strategists hope a Dole candidacy will draw massive support from women voters amid signs that the United States may finally be ready to vote a woman into the White House.

Dole was introduced to the podium by 12-year-old Diandra Rollings who said: ``There still has not been a woman president of the United States. That's why I support Elizabeth Dole.''

Women's votes twice elected Clinton and Gore also enjoys their support. But Republican National Committee spokesman Tim Fitzpatrick senses a sea change.

``The Republican party has been gaining with women in recent years,'' he said, noting that they won a majority of married women in the 1998 midterms.

Republican men, generally the most traditional of voters, are also becoming lessinclined to dismiss women as not tough enough or too flighty for the country's top job, according to Fitzpatrick.

``There is certainly less resistance to the idea than there has been in the past,'' he said.

The United States has lagged far behind countries such as Britain, Israel, India and Pakistan in promoting women leaders, but polls show more and more Americans say they're ready to put one in the White House.

As Dole spoke, her campaign began running 30-minute commercials on television stations in Iowa and New Hampshire in which she portrayed herself as a caring and independent outsider.

``I believe our people are looking for leaders who will call America to her better nature,'' she said in a clear dig at Clinton's scandal troubles.

``Yes, we've been let down and by people we should have been able to look up to.

``Politics and the politics of governing have become so negative, so paralysed by special interest that as a people we are beginning to lose faith in our institutions. It's only ashort step toward losing faith in ourselves and then we would be lost,'' she added in her commercial.