Clinton plays the female card

WASINGTON: Hillary Clinton's campaign Monday made its most overt bit yet to highlight her historic potential as the possible first US woman president, suggesting female voters could vault her to victory.   

The front-running Democrat kicked off a week of events highlighting her perceived appeal to women, as her campaign released a memo implying she could best exploit the "pivotal" voting bloc in 2008.   

"Women are and will be a powerful force in American politics this presidential election," the memo said.   

"They were the critical swing voters in the last three elections and they promise to again play a pivotal role in this one," Clinton's top strategist Mark Penn wrote in the memo.   

Less than three months before first party nominating contests, the memo argued the New York Senator was trouncing her fellow Democrats and potential Republican rivals in the battle for the female vote.   

The campaign said its own polling revealed that 94 percent of young women said they would be more likely to show up at the polls if a first female presidential nominee was on the ballot.   

The fact Clinton is the first woman candidate with a realistic shot at becoming president has been an underlying theme of the campaign, but has not been as overtly referenced before at a national level - possibly to avoid alienating unaffiliated male voters.   

"As Hillary says, she is not running as a woman candidate - the only reason to vote for her is that you believe she is the most qualified to be president," Penn's memo said.   

At campaign events however, Clinton usually earns enthusiastic cheers by mentioning the historic potential of her presidential bid.   

"If you hear someone saying that America can't elect a woman president ... tell them to come with me," Clinton told a service employees union here in September, saying she hears parents point to her and tell their young daughters 'see, honey, you can do whatever you want to do in life.'"