Hillary in Philly, raising $, hopes

Dressed to the nines in floral prints and fitted suits, but sensible middle-age shoes, hundreds of women crowded a hotel ballroom yesterday to applaud U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton.

"Maybe it's history in the making," said Jenna Brown, 63, of Center City.

History in a black pantsuit.

Democrat Clinton headlined the $100-a-ticket women's fundraiser at the Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel, 17th and Race streets, for her presidential campaign. The event was hosted by Lt. Gov. Catherine Baker Knoll, U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, state Sen. Connie Williams and Councilwoman Jannie Blackwell.

The Pennsylvania primary is scheduled for April 22, far too late to influence the party nominees. But the state is considered a key battlefield in the general election.

The latest Daily News/Keystone Poll showed Clinton consistently ahead of her Democratic rivals and in potential November 2008 matchups with several leading Republican candidates.

Before Clinton appeared, a series of speakers urged the audience - as women - to get involved, participate and donate to the campaign.

"Just think about January 20, 2009, watching the first woman president being sworn in," said Schwartz. "Can we, can women, make it happen?"

This was, for the most part, a crowd of zealots. The 800-plus group went wild when Clinton took the stage - accompanied by her campaign song, "You and I" by Celine Dion.

Clinton promised to fight for for all citizens if elected.

"I believe in an America where none of us is invisible," she said. "When I am president, there will be no invisible Americans."

Clinton stressed several key campaign themes - affordable health care, more progressive energy policies and an end to the war in Iraq.

But perhaps the biggest cheer came when she promised to send ambassadors to other world leaders and declared that "cowboy diplomacy is over."

A few men did trickle in toward the end of the forum, among them Mayor Street, who has endorsed Clinton, and Democratic mayoral candidate Michael Nutter, who has not.

Directly after the big event, Clinton was scheduled to attend a more exclusive cocktail fundraiser hosted by a number of local Democratic bigwigs. The donation minimum to drink martinis with Clinton was $1,000.

While the forum crowd was overwhelmingly pro-Clinton, there seemed to be a slight generation gap. A small pocket of younger women - students from Moore College of Art and Design - said they were unsure about whom to support.

"We don't really know much, but because she's a woman we want to find out more about her politics and stuff," said Susie Falvey, 21, of Lafayette Hill. "Right now she would probably be my first choice mainly because she's a woman, but that's not a good enough reason, so I need to back it up." *