By DAVE DAVIES
daviesd@phillynews.com 215-854-2595
RACING OTHER presidential hopefuls in a March fundraising blitz, U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton tapped friends and allies for support here yesterday in her bid for the Democratic nomination.
A lunchtime fundraiser at the Sheraton City Center Hotel, 17th and Race, netted close to $500,000 for the campaign, according to one organizer. After the event, the New Yorker met with supporters at private meetings, including one at the headquarters of the cable giant Comcast Corp.
Candidates are building their campaign funds before a March 31 federal reporting deadline, hoping to encourage supporters and discourage rivals.
Attorney Alan Kessler, co-chair of Clinton's Pennsylvania finance committee, said the response to her visit was "at this early stage, nothing short of spectacular."
One of Clinton's chief rivals, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., raised an estimated $200,000 at a Philadelphia event last month.
Clinton focused on Iraq in a 30-minute address to supporters. She didn't mention any other candidates by name, but said she was committed to a carefully crafted plan for ending the war and avoiding precipitous actions that might endanger American interests in the region.
"One of the reasons why I believe I am best prepared, most qualified, and ready to serve on day one is because I think I can extract us from Iraq in the right way," Clinton said.
Clinton also said she would set meaningful domestic goals as president, including universal health care. "It's not going to be easy," Clinton said. "I have the scars to show it's not easy," referring to her unsuccessful effort at health-care reform in her husband's first term in the White House.
Clinton said she would also challenge the country to work on energy independence, universal pre-kindergarten, more-affordable college, and improved voting systems.
"I want to be a president who gets the country back together," Clinton said, "where we look at each other with respect, where we say, 'What can we do to be better than we are?'"
The Pennsylvania primary election, usually held in April, hasn't traditionally been a factor in party nominations, but Democratic Gov. Rendell is seeking to move it to early March.
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