Clinton Seeks To Win Support of Asian Community

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — Senator Clinton took time out of a madcap fund-raising blitz through California to try to extinguish a blaze of criticism that erupted in the Asian community after Chinese-American journalists asserted that they were racially profiled at one of Mrs. Clinton's events in San Francisco.

Before embarking on a tour of Northern California yesterday aimed at picking up about $1 million for her presidential bid, Mrs. Clinton sat down at a San Francisco hotel with more than 40 reporters and photographers for newspapers, magazines, and television outlets that serve the Asian-American community.

The session seemed successful at mollifying the offended reporters, who claimed that a campaign aide told them they were not welcome at a fund-raiser last month because they were "foreign press."

"I was really upset," Portia Li of the Chinese language newspaper, World Journal, said. "Many Americans still look at Asians as foreigners. I've been in the country 25 years. I'm an American citizen. … I want Asian Americans to be treated as Americans."

Mrs. Clinton's campaign aides said the journalists were not excluded because of their background, but because of space constraints. The event was open to local news outlets, but was pooled for national news organizations, which were represented by a small pre-selected group. Some Asian-American reporters were admitted, but a dispute arose over whether Ms. Li's publication and others should be considered local. That's when Ms. Li and another reporter, Cindy Liu of China Press, said they were addressed as "foreign."

Both women said they received and accepted a face-to-face apology from Mrs. Clinton before the larger meeting yesterday.

"The previous event was a misunderstanding that we deeply regret," a spokeswoman for the senator, Jennifer Hanley said. "We're interested in working with this community and are not going to let anything get in the way of that."

On hand to help Mrs. Clinton tamp down the trouble were two Asian Americans who served in President Clinton's administration: a former general counsel of the Commerce Department, Ginger Lew, and a staffer on Mr. Clinton's domestic policy council, Irene Bueno.

"You have to give them credit. They responded quickly," a San Francisco television reporter, Christopher Chow, said.

Mrs. Clinton took questions about nuclear issues relating to North Korea and India, participants said. She was also asked about China and indicated that, if she is elected, human-rights concerns will be a key part of her interactions with Chinese leaders, attendees said.

Following that meeting, Mrs. Clinton talked with a group of more than 100 Democratic fundraisers and activists who have not yet committed to a candidate. An organizer, Jeff Anderson, said the conclave, which has also heard from Senator Obama of Illinois and a former senator, John Edwards, is taking on added importance as a result of California's primary being moved to early February. "This group will probably become important fund-raisers, but now, they're going to be the core of a real campaign in California," he said.

That session and all of Mrs. Clinton's fund-raising events yesterday were closed to the press. She attended a $1,000-a-plate luncheon yesterday at a home overlooking a country club in Hillsborough, Calif., just south of San Francisco. Guests said she was questioned about her Iraq War vote by a guest who said his "tennis buddies" didn't find her explanation credible.

A software engineer from San Francisco, Steve Ko, said Mrs. Clinton said she was willing to fess up to her mistakes, but that she did not consider her vote on Iraq to be in that category. "I thought she was able to answer it very well," Mr. Ko, 36, said. Some guests said Mrs. Clinton came off better in person than on TV. "I was actually surprised at how warm she is," Amy Laughlin said. She said she would back Mrs. Clinton but likes Mr. Obama, who could be vice-presidential timber. "I hope she doesn't trash him," Ms. Laughlin said.

Later, Mrs. Clinton hobnobbed with Silicon Valley leaders at a $1,000-a-ticket event at hotel in Redwood City, Calif. Her appearance was arranged by the president of Oracle, Charles Phillips, and a lobbyist for Cisco Systems, Susan Bostrom.

One self-declared undecided voter who anted up, Tracy Demiroz, said she was impressed with Mrs. Clinton's pitch about how she won over independents and Republicans in New York during her recent Senate campaign. "I don't think she could have accomplished what she did in New York if she was polarizing," Ms. Demiroz, 46, said.

Ms. Demiroz, who works in marketing for high-tech firms, said Mr. Obama has too little experience and that Mr. Edwards is suspect because of his background as a trial lawyer, a profession unpopular in the technology business. "His career really bothers me," she said.