Making a confident first public appearance since pneumonia forced her to take rest for four days, Hillary Clinton returned to the campaign trail and insisted that she was fully recovered.
"Being on the trail does not encourage reflection. It's important to sit with your thoughts every now and again and this helped me to reflect on what this campaign is all about," the Guardian quoted her as saying at a young crowd at the University of North Carolina, Greensboro.
Appearing rested, the former secretary of state climbed the steps to the podium and gripped a guard rail carefully.
Turning her experience into a renewed call for better provision of healthcare and family leave, she said, "For millions of moms and dads, if they get sick there is no backup, they are on their own.. That's the story for too many people in America."
Ignoring a young male heckler, who shouted "you suck" to calmly set out the differences between her and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, she said, "I confess I will never be the showman that Trump is."
Clinton then returned to her campaign messages on the economy and social justice.
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"I have been involved in politics for many years. It's not an easy business. Sometimes it can be rough. People accuse me of all kinds of things, but nobody every accused me of quitting and I will never ever give up," she added.
She also addressed widespread criticism that she had been slow to acknowledge the seriousness of her recent illness, both to herself and the public.
"As you may know I recently had a cough that turned out to be pneumonia" she said. "I tried to power through it, but even I had to admit that maybe a few days rest would do me good . I am not great at taking it easy under ordinary circumstances, but with just two months to go until election day [home] was the last place I wanted to be," she added.
She asserted that when it comes to public service, she is better at the service bit than the public bit.
A new poll for CBS and the New York Times on Thursday showed Clinton and Trump on 41 percent each. Another swing state poll also showed Trump ahead by 8 percent in Iowa, a state President Barack Obama took by 6 percent in 2012.