WILLIAMSBURG, IOWA — Missing the star power of Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Rodham Clinton toured the state Saturday with her mother and daughter Chelsea in tow, in a series of low-key campaign events in which she dialed down attacks on her rivals.
Maybe it was the soothing presence of her family in the crowd, but Clinton, speaking in soft tones, repeatedly passed up opportunities to tar her opponents.
A man here who said he was inclined to support Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for president asked why she merited his vote. Rather than exploit a chance to deride Obama -- as she had been doing with more frequency -- Clinton said that all the Democratic candidates were capable.
"You don't have to be against anybody," the New York senator said. One thing voters should consider when making their choice, she said, is which of the candidates has the best chance to win.
"I have been vetted for 15 years," she said. "You know everything about me, probably, including my blood type. There aren't going to be any surprises. I know what it takes to run against Republicans who are coming at you full-bore."
Try as she might, Clinton found it difficult to overcome the reality that a certain supremely popular television celebrity was in the state, campaigning for one of her chief rivals.
Clinton held a brief news conference here that was dominated by questions about Winfrey's joint appearance with Obama. She rejected Winfrey's contention Saturday that life wisdom trumps government experience. "It's a false choice to pose it that way to the American people," Clinton said. "I offer both experience and change."
With the media attention devoted to Winfrey, Clinton used the day to make a more personal, direct appeal to voters. Crowds at her early events numbered 100 to 150 people, but they grew a bit larger at the end of the day. The rally here was in an elementary school gym. About one-third of the space was empty, screened off by an enormous American flag.
Clinton set aside large blocks of time to take questions, shake hands, sign autographs and pose for photos, keeping her speeches short while engaging in a heavy dose of face-to-face campaigning.
She had breakfast at a restaurant in Des Moines, eating an omelet and toast after getting a tour of the delicatessen's offerings. The Democratic front-runner paused mid-forkful to greet a young girl who came to her table to tell her about plans to see the Rockettes, who are performing in Des Moines.
