Justin Webb's America

Something missing?

• Justin Webb
• 7 Jan 08, 11:43 AM GMT

Arriving in New Hampshire and going straight to the evening Hillary Clinton rally at a school near Manchester, I found myself impressed by flashes of real assertiveness - the kind of assertiveness that convinced many Americans during the course of recent months that she was The Candidate.

An example: a question about Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. President Bush told Americans years ago he had looked into Putin's soul - Hillary was contemptuous: "He was a former KGB man; he had no soul!" Take that, Vlad - plainly Mrs Clinton senses a nostalgia for the Cold War rather than our modern, more complex struggles, and she may be right.

On the other hand, there is something missing: she is competent and tough but she does not inspire. People drifted away from this event and the folks in the overflow hall allowed in to boost the numbers did so too...

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