WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Sen. Hillary Clinton urged women voters to help her become the first female president Tuesday, but the New York Democrat said she hopes they vote for her for reasons besides the fact she is a woman.

"I want people to vote for the candidate they believe is best qualified to be the President of the United States," she said at an event sponsored by EMILY's List, a political action committee that backs Democratic women who support abortion rights. "I would not be running if I did not believe I was that candidate."

But Clinton said she plans to frequently tout her experiences as a female politician on the campaign trail.

"When I'm out on trail, I talk about the fact that, guess what, I'm a woman," she said. "And I know it's on people's minds, and I ask people to vote for me based on my entire life experience."

"The fact is that being a woman, a wife a mother, having to work my way forward in the legal profession and in politics, is part of who I am, and I will take that with me not only in the campaign but into the Oval Office," she added.

Watch Sen. Clinton on running for president as a woman

-- CNN's Alexander Mooney and Lauren Kornreich

Posted 3/06/2007 06:07:00 PM | Permalink