Hillary Clinton brought a pitch for women's issues to her first South Carolina campaign trip on Wednesday, but it was her reappearing Arkansas accent that caught much of the attention.

She lost the state to Barack Obama in 2008, part of the epic meltdown that drove her from heir-apparent down to also-ran.

But she appears to be more willing to play on race and gender politics this time around, leveraging relationships with minority female business owners in Columbia before an afternoon speech to Democratic women.

'I am running to live again at 1600 Paynsylvania Avuhnoo,' she drawled during that speech at a 'Day in Blue' event for Democratic women, bringing back a selectively applied drawl that accompanied her 30 years ago when she was the first lady of Arkansas.

She wore her own blue pantsuit for good measure.

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'1600 PAYNSYLVANIA AVUHNOO': Clinton put on her best Arkansas twang for an audience of South Carolina women

Before her country voice came out, Clinton mingled with black small businesswomen at Kiki's Chicken and Waffles in Columbia, South Carolina

PLANTED? Two black female enlisted soldiers were on hand at the chicken-and-waffles joint as Clinton came in for a scheduled visit

Both of the nation's top Democrats have previously acquired southern accents when addressing southern black audiences.

Vice President Joe Biden, a Pennsylvania native and former Delaware senator, famously told an August 2012 campaign audience of mostly black Democrats in Danville, Virginia that Republicans wanted 'to put y'all back in chains.'

And President Obama shouted 'Where's yo' dollah?' two months later in a campaign speech, mimicking what he thought New Orleans residents would be asking the federal government about slow-walked relief money following hurricane Katrina.

Real or not, Obama used his closeness to southerners to prevail in South Carolina's 2008 primary among both minority and female voters over Clinton, the Illinois-born former Arkansan who later held one of New York's two seats in the U.S. Senate.

Capturing the attention of those voting blocs will be crucial for Clinton if she is to stave off challenges from her left – including a spry sprint from the even more elderly Bernie Sanders, a self-described 'Democratic socialist' senator from Vermont.

During an appearance at Kiki's Chicken and Waffles in Columbia, and during one of her ubiquitous 'roundtable' events that followed, she met with minority women business owners – including Kiki Smith Cyrus, the restaurant's owner.

But through it all, Clinton continued to keep reporters at bay.

Clinton is making the first visit of her campaign to South Carolina, a state she lost to Barack Obama in 2008

THEATER IN THE ROUND(table): Clinton has been criticized for hosting 'staged' events including hand-picked sycophants instead of the 'everyday Americans' she says she wants to attract

Journalists have been stymied at nearly every turn as she has avoided answering questions from reporters her handlers don't favor – especially questions about her family foundation's ties to foreign governments and her decision to destroy more than 32,000 emails from her time as secretary of state.

The Republican Party has gone out of its way to draw attention to Clinton's reluctance to meet the press.

In a one-minute online ad sent into South Carolina ahead of her visit, the Republican National Committee lampooned the scripted nature of her public events so far.

In the video, actors portray 'everyday Americans' who say they were recruited and coached before their participation in a Clinton sit-down.

'Americans don't need to splurge on movie tickets and popcorn because they can tune into Hillary Clinton's highly manufactured "campaign events" with scripted dialogue, canned questions, and "everyday Americans" played by pre-screened Democrat activists,' RNC Chairman Reince Priebus said in a statement launching the YouTube jab.

'If the American people want someone who can read a poll-tested line without having to answer questions from real voters, Hillary Clinton is their candidate,' he said.

Longest of long-shot Republican candidate Carly Fiorina held court near Clinton's event on Thursday, answering the media questions she said Hillary wouldn't – mostly with insults.

MINORITY REPORT: Clinton must attract blacks and women if she hopes to lock down the Palmetto State earlyl and focus her time on New Hampshire and Iowa

And on Friday the Republican Party of Florida will host a press conference outside another Clinton 'roundtable' event. But unlike Fiorina, they invited the former first lady to take part.

'The Republican Party of Florida has invited Hillary Clinton to participate in a press conference following her "public" event in Miami,' party chairman Blaise Ingoglia Chairman said Wednesday.

'This presser will give her the opportunity to address the important questions that have led to voters across the state not to trust her. The people of Florida are eager to hear an unscripted Hillary in an unstaged event.'

A campaign press pool reporter said Clinton 'shook hands with all of the customers' at Kiki's and then 'sat down for the roundtable with small business owners.'

The reporter 'was only able to witness the initial introductions,' the report said. 'Clinton listened attentively as each woman began to introduce herself.'