President Clinton phoned the Mary Mason radio show to voice support for John Street. (AP Photo/Khue Bui)

On a day in which several prominent Democrats spoke out for John Street, their beleaguered party nominee, Clinton picked up a phone and called the Mary Mason show on WHAT-AM (1340).

"I think that this mayor's race in Philadelphia is very important for the quality of life for the people of Philadelphia - but also politically. . . . This will have a big impact on national politics," Clinton told the host of Mornings With Mary during a five-minute chat that was aired live.

Clinton's call from the White House to a talk-radio station in West Philadelphia illustrated the trouble in which Street finds himself just seven days before the election.

It was the start of a last-minute blitz by Clinton to save Street from the possibility of becoming the first Democrat to lose City Hall in a half-century. The President has taped a radio advertisement for Street that will begin airing today. And he will travel to Philadelphia on Friday to address a rally at La Salle University.

Campaign polls last week showed that Street was locked in a tight race with Republican Sam Katz, who stands a decent chance of becoming the first GOP mayor since Barney Samuel, who left office in 1951.

Clinton told Mason on the broadcast, aired shortly after noon, that the eyes of the country were on the race.

A Republican victory in Philadelphia, he said, could help U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, a conservative Pennsylvania Republican, win reelection next year. It could influence whether Pennsylvania goes to the Democrats or the Republicans in the presidential race. That, in turn, could influence the presidential race itself.

"I know the Republicans in Washington and in Harrisburg would love to win the Philadelphia mayor's race so they can . . . have a Republican president and a Republican Congress," the President said.

With no sign that either candidate is pulling ahead, money continues to pour into campaign coffers - three-quarters of a million dollars in the last week alone.

Street filed an official report yesterday showing that he had raised about $652,000 since Oct. 18, bringing his total to $9.1 million. Katz reported that he had raised an additional $121,500, elevating his tally to about $6.1 million.

Including the cost of a hard-fought Democratic primary in May, spending in the mayoral election is likely to hit $25 million, making it the most expensive race in the country this year.

Last night, in a fund-raising dinner at the Rittenhouse Hotel, Street hoped to pick up $250,000 more, according to his spokesman, Ken Snyder. That would bring his own eight-day total to $900,000.

Local and national Democrats were in a frenzy yesterday to boost Street.

But Katz, whose public appearances largely have been confined to debates, public forums and other low-key events, spent most of the day at his office on the 28th floor of the Lewis Tower in Center City.

Bob Barnett, his campaign director, said Katz held private meetings and made fund-raising calls before heading out to three forums last night - one at the Wyndham Franklin Plaza Hotel sponsored by hotel and restaurant groups, one in Overbrook Farms organized by a community association, and one at the Free Library on Logan Square that dealt with pedestrian safety.

Katz has sought to downplay his party affiliation, knowing that he cannot hope to win an election along party lines. Democrats outnumber Republicans in Philadelphia by a 4-1 ratio.

In one of his current TV ads, Katz makes an appeal to Democrats by including a woman who tells the camera, "I like the fact that Sam Katz is a little more liberal."

Barnett, in an interview, minimized the importance of Clinton's efforts on Street's behalf.

He noted that Street, formerly president of City Council, had not had a public show of support from many of his former Democratic colleagues.

Said Barnett: "I think it [the endorsement] would work better if he had most of the people who served with him in City Council support him, instead of one person from out of town."

For Street yesterday, Democratic endorsements were the name of the game.

About 10 a.m., U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah, a Philadelphian who for months has been helping Street, appeared with the candidate at a news conference in West Philadelphia to endorse him.

At 3 p.m., U.S. Sen. Joseph Biden, of Delaware, a former presidential candidate, appeared with Street on a corner in the Kingsessing section of Philadelphia that police said had been prone to drug-trafficking. Also on hand was Robert Casey, the state auditor general and son of a former governor, as well as District Attorney Lynne Abraham and two members of City Council: Jannie Blackwell and Donna Miller.

At 6 p.m., Mayor Rendell and national Democratic consultant James Carville joined Street at a $1,000-a-head fund-raiser at the Rittenhouse. In a brief speech, Carville said that "Philadelphia's progress is a result of the politics of President Clinton, Mayor Rendell and of John Street."

The candidates yesterday were required to update campaign expense reports they filed Friday.

Street reported some of the largest donations of his campaign, including $50,000 each from Garden Plaza Associates in Willingboro, and Irvin Richter, a self-employed businessman from Cherry Hill. Several other large contributions came from out of state, including $10,000 each from William Gallagher, with Shannon Corp. of Cinnaminson, and Gerald Cassidy of Cassidy & Associates in Washington.

In all, Street got at least $90,000 more from union PACs, including $50,000 from the Laborers District Council and $10,000 from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

Large donations reported by Katz included $25,000 from John Haas, former chairman of the Rohm & Haas company, who earlier had given him $100,000. Katz also got $10,000 each from Cozen & O'Connor, a law firm, and F.C. Philip Morris, a Cleveland real estate partnership.

Most of the money will go into TV commercials.

A Street ad, similar to a radio spot that debuted last week, takes Katz to task for his poor attendance record while a member of the school board from 1981 to 1984. Then with a picture of children in a classroom, the voice-over notes that Katz resigned before his term expired and concludes with this line: "In his only public job, Sam Katz skipped out on our kids."

When Katz resigned, he said his business was taking too much of his time. He says now that he had another reason for resigning: He intended to send his children to private schools and thought that would send a bad message if he were still on the board.

The Katz ad near the end shows Street pounding a lectern and waving his arms while making a speech. The ad is apparently trying to subtly deliver the message that Marty Weinberg repeated during the primaries: that Street can be an unpredictable wild man.

This ad ends with the voice-over saying: "Sam Katz says we should try to manage the city 2 percent better. You attack him for that? Mr. Street, if you don't believe the city can be managed 2 percent better, why are you even running for mayor?"

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