GENDER CAMPAIGNING : WOMEN TOUT CLINTON'S RECORD ON KEY ISSUES.

Byline: Adam Nagourney The New York Times

When the Republicans met in San Diego two weeks ago, they presented a procession of more than 40 women in four days, including the keynote speaker, a convention chairwoman and, most memorably, Elizabeth Dole.

As the Democrats closed out the third night of their convention Wednesday evening, they had already marched nearly 50 women across the stage and screen, including both Hillary Rodham Clinton and Tipper Gore.

From the podium to the nation's televisions screens, the Democrats at their convention have set out to more than match the Republicans woman for woman. President Clinton's party has presented women discussing everything from assault weapons to tobacco, family leave to federal crime legislation - all issues on which Clinton and his opponent, Bob Dole, have disagreed.

Indeed, whatever public rehabilitation Hillary Clinton sought from her speech Tuesday night, the address served a bigger strategic purpose for her husband's re-election effort: It represented the leading edge of a campaign to highlight issues that Clinton's aides have determined give their candidate a particular, if not always obvious, advantage with women.

From the earliest days of this presidential campaign, Clinton's often large leads in opinion polls have been boosted by his disproportionate support among women - a fallout, analysts believe, of deep unhappiness among women with policies pursued by House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia.

In the latest New York Times/CBS News Poll, taken after the Republican convention, men supported Clinton over Dole by a margin of 6 percentage points. Women, by contrast, supported Clinton by a margin of 16 points.

To a small degree, the aggressive effort to focus on the women's vote this week reflected a tinge of concern among Clinton's advisers over evidence that Dole at his convention might have won back some of the Republican women who had drifted to Clinton's camp. But more important, Clinton's advisers are convinced that he cannot win without an overwhelming edge among women.

Both camps believe that the election will ultimately be decided by the women's vote, and what is being attempted in Chicago now, said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster, is to transform the gender gap ``into a gender canyon - and put the race out of range.''

So it is that Wednesday night's proceedings were highlighted by five female senators standing together at the front of the hall to cheers, after devoting brief speeches to issues that Clinton's advisers believe he can use against Dole with women. Dianne Feinstein of California, for example, discussed Clinton's support for the assault weapons ban, which Dole initially opposed.

And those speeches followed a Tuesday night in which convention officials juggled the schedule to make certain that Tipper Gore and Hillary Clinton dominated prime time. Hillary Clinton then used what convention planners expect will be one of the two most-watched speeches this week both to offer an often intimate discussion of life with her husband and daughter - drawing an implicit contrast with Elizabeth Dole, who is childless - and to highlight Clinton's advocacy of bills like one to prohibit hospitals from discharging new mothers within 48 hours of giving birth.

TODAY'S SCHEDULE

1:30 p.m.

Democratic women of the House: Nita Lowey of New York; Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut; Eleanor Holmes Norton of the District of Columbia; Patricia Schroeder of Colorado.

Rep. David Bonior of Michigan.

5 p.m.

Sen. Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

Nomination of Vice President Al Gore by Rep. Joe Kennedy, D-Mass; Mayor Bill Campbell of Atlanta; Michelle Alioto, House candidate from California.

Vice President Gore.

President Clinton.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos, Box

Photo: (1) Sen. Dianne Feinstein waits her turn tospeak at the Democratic convention.

(2) California's other female senator, Barbara Boxer, addresses the delegates.

Associated Press

Box: TODAY'S SCHEDULE (See text)