Swing and a Miss in New Hampshire

-- The Fact Checker, veteran reporter Michael Dobbs, is vetting what the candidates say. I look forward to his expanding into bigger themes as well.

-- Ad Watch, by media writer Howard Kurtz, whose media pieces have been insightful, has been another restraint on candidates saying what they please and expecting voters to believe them.

-- The Ideas Primary on the editorial page has added much-needed comment on issues.

Where The Post could improve:

-- All the debates were covered, with almost all on Page 1, but there needs to be more exploration and comparison of policy positions and themes, such as Jonathan Weisman's cautionary Jan. 7 story on Obama's pledge to unite a bipartisan coalition. There have been three times more "horse race" stories than stories on voters, background or leadership. The Front-runners, a December series, was well-packaged and beautifully written and gave a lot of background. But it hardly mentioned issues. That said, the Thursday story by Peter Baker and Anne E. Kornblut on what happened behind the scenes in the Clinton campaign in Iowa and New Hampshire was fascinating.

-- More on voters. Stories about strategy and tactics are top-heavy with political gurus and light on what voters and interest groups have to say. Out of seven political stories in the A-section Thursday, only one quoted a voter.

Political junkies also must go to washingtonpost.com because much of The Post's political reporting -- in The Trail campaign blog, the Fact Checker and Dan Balz'sTake-- is only on the Web. And there are videos.

Political reporters and editors, stay skeptical. If your mother says she loves you, check it out.

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This column superseded one I wrote earlier in the week -- now available here -- on complaints about the Jan. 6 Parade magazine cover and interview with former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, who was assassinated after the issue went to press. My view: The Post did not adequately explain why Parade published the interview and The Post distributed it.

Deborah Howell can be reached at 202-334-7582 or at ombudsman@washpost.com.