Local women rally to support Clinton

DUNCANSVILLE — Sisters Theresa Gropelli and Kathy Bem involved themselves in a political campaign for the first time this year, encouraged especially by a viable female candidate for president.

“I didn’t think this was going to happen in my lifetime,” Gropelli of Duncansville said about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential bid. “I think it’ll do something very positive.”

The sisters attended a Women for Hillary rally at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees union hall Saturday.

They have knocked on area doors and plan to make phone calls before Pennsylvania’s April 22 primary election.

Clinton would make history as the nation’s first female president should she receive the Democratic nomination this summer and beat presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain this fall.

Even if Clinton doesn’t win, some feel her campaign will encourage women to participate in the political process, an arena where men have long dominated.

“It says you can do whatever you want to do,” Bem, of Altoona, said of Clinton’s campaign.

Jo Ann Nardelli, who heads Blair County’s federation of Democratic women, said Clinton’s campaign has vastly increased the number of local women participating in political events.

“The women’s movement is on,” she said. “We’ve come so far as women.”

U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, R-13th District, attended the rally with several other high-profile women as part of the Clinton campaign’s ‘‘All Voices Count’’ women’s tour, which is traveling across Pennsylvania. Schwartz is the only female member of Congress for Pennsylvania.

‘‘Even though I don’t represent you geographically, I probably represent you ideologically on occasion,’’ she told a crowd of around 65.

Schwartz said that, while Clinton’s campaign is based on qualifications and experience, being female is an ‘‘extra plus’’ for many people.

Barbara Bosar of Martinsburg attended the rally with her daughter, Brooke, 12. While Barbara Bosar often follows politics, a viable female presidential candidate has given her a more ‘‘personal connection.’’

‘‘I have two daughters,’’ she said. ‘‘You can’t tell them they can be anything if you don’t have a role model like her to aspire to.’’