Dashing Through the Snow, Craving News Along the Way

In front of a huge banner -- "Working for Change, Working for You" -- friends and constituents of the New York senator attested to her warmer side. Some of the tales were moving, especially that of Shannon Mallozzi, a self-described "desperate mother" who secured Clinton's help in hospitalizing her brain-damaged daughter.

"My perception of her was probably a media-cultivated one," Mallozzi said. "I thought she was a bit remote."

With 11 cameras rolling, Clinton described how she took off her thick glasses in school "so boys would notice me," and how her childhood friend Betsy Ebeling -- also in attendance -- would guide her and point out the cute ones. When Clinton talked about the war, it was to recall a captain she had met at Walter Reed who lost his arm and had suffered a brain injury.

Some journalists reacted with a dose of cynicism. One said Clinton had reinvented herself as Mother Teresa. Another said it was pretty late in the game for such an effort. The kinder, gentler approach generated a smattering of stories -- including a New York Times piece headlined "After Long Delay, Clinton Embarks on a Likability Tour" -- and some cable chat. But there was more talk about the tactic than what she had actually said.

If Clinton has a likability problem, Obama is at the opposite end of the scale -- a man of considerable charm and ease who seems to inspire his supporters. His challenge is to prove that a newcomer three years removed from the Illinois legislature is ready to be president.

At a foreign policy forum staged at an airport hotel, Obama barely cracked a smile or paused for a joke. The banner du jour read "Judgment to Lead," with five American flags arrayed behind the candidate.

The point was for him to be validated by five national security heavyweights, including Clinton administration veterans Tony Lake and Susan Rice. Lake was the most openly partisan, saying he was sick of political consultants -- even as Obama's consultant, David Axelrod, sat outside the room -- and preferred the "politics of authenticity" to the "politics of artificiality." Rice, an African American, made a not-so-veiled reference to Obama's race, saying he "embodies the many different strands of our national heritage."

From a lectern, Obama read a short speech in a monotone, and as he fielded audience questions, he assumed the role of a stern professor. Gliding confidently from Iraq to Iran, from Israel to China to Darfur, he also noted that he had spent three years on the Foreign Relations Committee and that his father was from Kenya.

"That is the experience I will bring to the office, not the mind-set of fear we've been fed since 9/11," he said. Unlike Clinton, with her tales of schoolboy flirtations, Obama had something different to prove. But he broke no new ground, and the event got little more than brief mentions in a handful of newspaper stories.

There was another reason why Clinton and Obama barely made a ripple in the news cycle: They didn't mention each other's names. Journalists thrive on attack politics, their copy filled with jabs and counterpunches as a race nears its climax. And on these December days in the cold-weather contest that is Iowa, there were none to be had.

Out of Balance

Hillary Clinton has had a rough time on the airwaves. From Oct. 1 through Dec. 15, comments about her on the ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox evening newscasts were nearly 3 to 2 negative, compared with more than 3 to 2 positive for Barack Obama and 2 to 1 positive for John Edwards.

In a typical comment about Clinton, according to the study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs, NBC's Andrea Mitchell said: "Critics say her best known Senate vote, on Iraq, was driven by politics, not by principle." Clinton was evaluated more often than all her Democratic opponents combined.

Among Republicans, the center found, Mike Huckabee fared best with 50 percent positive comments from journalists and those interviewed, followed by Fred Thompson (44 percent positive), Mitt Romney (40 percent), Rudy Giuliani (39 percent) and John McCain (33 percent).

Overall, the Democratic contenders drew 47 percent positive coverage on the broadcast networks and the Republicans 40 percent. Among the newscasts, the study found Fox's "Special Report" to be the most evenly balanced in its news reports on candidates of both parties.