Clinton Cheered in Bay Area

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, barnstorming California in the final days before the Feb. 5 primary, made a strong appeal to Bay Area voters Friday, telling them "the future has been invented right here in San Jose, in Silicon Valley, in California."

"So let's begin again to show the world, and prove to ourselves, that we're the innovators, we're the inventors, we're the people who understand that the future is what America is all about," the New York senator, her voice hoarse, said to the thunderous cheers of more than 4,000 people who assembled in the San Jose McEnery Convention Center. "America once again needs to be the innovation nation."

Clinton's appearance in San Jose, combined with a standing-room-only evening fundraiser at the Orpheum Theatre in downtown San Francisco, was part of a three-pronged Clinton family march through the nation's most populous state with its 376 Democratic delegates up for grabs on Tuesday.

Clinton planned a final rally in Los Angeles Saturday, while her daughter, Chelsea, is set to campaign in the Bay Area, including at Mills College. Former President Bill Clinton planned to be traveling up and down the state in the final days on his own campaign swing, campaign officials said.

Hillary Clinton's appearance Friday in San Jose drew thousands of cheering supporters to an event with a celebratory Latino theme, backed by a giant banner that read "Solutions for America."

And on her final Bay Area campaign swing, Clinton was surrounded by a retinue of high-profile Democrats, including Sen. Dianne Feinstein, Assembly Speaker Fabian Núñez and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

The rally clearly aimed to energize voters who constitute Clinton's particular strengths in California: She is ahead 2-1 with women and 3-1 with Latinos, the latest Field Poll shows.

Calling for immigration reform, she said to cheers that real immigration reform "is being drowned out by the voices of the demagogues."

"We know we've got to have tougher border security," she said. "We need to crack down on abusive employers" who exploit illegal immigrants, she said. But she cautioned, "These are people who are part of our economy and our society ... what we have to do is bring people out of the shadows."

Clinton also appeared eager to extend the conciliatory theme established with this week's debate with Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

"I am so proud of the Democratic Party," she told the audience. "I don't think any of us could have imagined that all of the work, all of the sacrifice, all of the commitment that has moved our country ... could have been so symbolized by the two of us, standing there, debating, trying to become the Democratic nominee and the president of our great country."

In San Francisco, Clinton was joined by Mayor Gavin Newsom and Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, who said Clinton showed a powerful feeling for simple justice. The predominately female crowd cheered when the senator conceded that as a young girl she never would have dreamed she would have a chance to become president.

"No matter what happens," she said, "after last night's debate, you can look at a child and say, 'Yes, you can be anything you want to be in this country we care so much about."

In San Jose, mariachis strolled the crowd, trumpets blaring, serenading Clinton's supporters into a joyous mood. Giant red and black United Farm Workers flags danced in the hall as supporters chanted, "Si Se Puede," the UFW slogan, Spanish for "Yes we can."

"I see a lot of estrogen-based life forms in this hall," said an exuberant Rep. Ellen Tauscher of Walnut Creek, revving up the crowd before Clinton's arrival. "Come on girls, like you mean it! She's one of us!"

Dolores Huerta, the iconic co-founder of the United Farm Workers, also appealed to the crowd "to do what Hillary did and do what Cesar Chavez did" and get Democrats out to vote on Tuesday.

While the Clintons blanketed the state, the Obama campaign also tried to reach voters with live events. But with the Illinois senator campaigning in other Super Tuesday states, the rallies featured his high-profile surrogates. Massachusetts Sen. Ted Kennedy hit Oakland on Friday; Michelle Obama, the candidate's wife, is tentatively scheduled to campaign in the Bay Area on Sunday and in Los Angeles with Oprah Winfrey and Caroline Kennedy.

Some Democrats who showed up for a last chance to see Clinton before Tuesday's primary said they were still making up their minds.

Among them was Barbara Katz, 52, a mental health worker from Albany - and a self-identified lesbian voter - who said she was still mulling her vote in the final days. She said she had watched portions of this week's debate at the Kodak Center in Los Angeles and liked what she saw in Clinton.

"I was pleased she was so much more positive; she came across as warmer and more personable," said Katz.

Sitting next to her, Peggy Reamer, 66, of Richmond said her mind was already made up.

Clinton's "experience factor is huge," as are her positions on key issues like health care, she said. But a factor that tugged at her heart, Reamer said, was that she wants to see - finally - a woman elected as president of the United States. "It's about time," said Reamer.

Still, she said, the recent debates have convinced her that Democrats have two good candidates to choose between.

"If Obama wins, he'll certainly have my support," she said.