Hillary Clinton roars into Philly

Hillary Clinton isn’t slowing down. Nursing a strained voice after her exhilarating win in the New York primary, Clinton barnstormed into Philadelphia Wednesday, hoping to maintain her campaign’s momentum and make her nomination seem inevitable.

She exhorted a crowd of about 2,000 cheering supporters in Fishtown to not just vote, but get involved in the campaign and generate a big turnout.

“I can’t do this unless you help me, and next Tuesday is a great opportunity to start us on the path to the White House!” she shouted as the crowd roared.

Before the rally, Clinton had a quieter, often emotional discussion with women who’d lost loved ones to violence — in many cases at the hands of police officers. Tanya Brown, whose son Brandon Tate-Brown was killed in an encounter with Philadelphia police, said moms need the help of a president who understands.

“Secretary Clinton, I pray something happens with these gun laws,” Brown said. “The guns got to go. We got to stop hurting each other – black, yellow, brown.”

Clinton said she admired the women’s courage, and promised to be a president committed to justice.”We have to do more to be more responsive and to hold everybody accountable who fails in either protecting the people they’re sworn to protect or in picking up a gun that they shouldn’t pick up,” Clinton said.

In discussing gun regulation, Clinton criticized the National Rifle Association, but didn’t attack her rival Bernie Sanders’ gun control record as she’s often done in the past.

With her big win in New York Tuesday, Clinton seems more focused on connecting with Sanders supporters and uniting the party for the general election.

Thursday is shaping up as a busy one for presidential candidates in Pennsylvania.  Donald Trump has a rally in Harrisburg.  John Kasich has a town hall in Media, Delaware County.  Bernie Sanders has events in Scranton, Reading and Oaks.  Former President Bill Clinton will campaign for his wife in Harrisburg.