HILADELPHIA - In Jane Swift's words, it was a visit with ''the girls.''
For about an hour yesterday afternoon, the lieutenant governor, far from the controversies that have dogged her in Massachusetts, found herself in a friendly cocoon of loud, laughing power moms. The occasion was a reception for VIEW PAC, a group that aims to put Republican women in Congress. The guests were largely Washingtonian - lobbyists, members of Congress, and candidates. The sorts of people who took Swift under their wing when she ran for Congress in 1996.
They hadn't seen Swift in a while, so there were whoops and hugs and exchanges of baby pictures; Swift had a photograph ready, her daughter's and nieces' heads superimposed on a Winnie-the-Pooh scene. Conversation ranged from advice on running for office to tales of their children's first words. And as she left, Swift lamented that there wasn't the same kind of female network back home.
''It's hard not to notice I have a lot more peers in that room than I do in the State House,'' she said.
She may be having political and public relations troubles in Massachusetts, but here in Philadelphia, Swift is in friendly territory.
There are old friends to reconnect with, politicians to exchange war stories with, organizations dedicated to electing women in general, and pro-choice women in particular.
Swift - who arrived on Tuesday, after the Legislature had ended its session - made the rounds of women's groups yesterday, eating breakfast with the WISH List, a fund-raising group for pro-choice Republican women, and hitting VIEW PAC in the afternoon. She attended a luncheon sponsored by CNN, where she hobnobbed with GOP strategist Mary Matalin.
The only controversy seemed to come midmorning, when she addressed the Massachusetts delegation.
In the hotel lobby afterward, delegates were buzzing about how - judging by applause - Swift had gotten a far cooler reception than delegation chairwoman Jean Inman. Not surprising, perhaps, from a group that had worked through the primaries for Senator John McCain of Arizona; Inman had headed McCain's state organization. But some delegates said their dissatisfaction with Swift was deeper rooted.
''Many of the Republicans around this state are not particularly happy with Jane, because she's caused such confusion,'' said one delegate who asked not to be named.
It was a stark contrast to the VIEW PAC reception, a party in a university boathouse. There, Swift was greeted warmly by friends and strangers and had a lengthy conversation with a sort of kindred spirit - a Pennsylvania state senator who is running for Congress.
Swift was one of the more formally dressed women in the crowd, and one of the few with an entourage of aides and bodyguards. And while some guests sipped beer and cocktails, Swift stuck to bottled water.
She also had to be circumspect when she spoke.
She demurred when one lobbyist mentioned he'd heard a rumor that a bit of political serendipity - a Bush administration post for Governor Paul Cellucci, or a vice presidential win by Senator John F. Kerry - might make her Governor Swift, soon.
But she laughed loudly at the sort of humor she rarely risks in public these days - like the line by a lobbyist/mother who joked that she was going to have to ''prostitute myself'' to get people to attend a meeting.
And she looked more relaxed than she tends to appear in the middle of a crowd of reporters in the State House.
Fortunately for Swift, this is a relaxed convention. Once the delegates hit the floor, they tend to be in an excellent mood. So when Swift arrived to mingle with the Massachusetts group, delegates shook her hand readily and had pictures taken with her.
The friendly overtures kept coming as the night drew on. Swift signed autographs, greeted fellow politicians, and sat easy in her chair, savoring a few minutes when the public was all smiles.
''Washington is so much more of a politically focused community,'' she said, looking a little wistful, as she headed into her car and back to her hotel.
