Clinton scores a hit

NASHUA, N.H.

HILLARY CLINTON was a "100 Club" hit.

At big party events like the annual fund-raising dinner Clinton addressed on Saturday night, the question is simple: Did the candidate leave the audience impressed or underwhelmed?

Those I talked to came away impressed -- and judging from the response she got from the party establishment, that was clearly the overall verdict.

Here's what's interesting. Clinton did so with a speech that didn't have the crowd popping out of their seats like political jacks in the box at adrenalin-pumping applause lines.

Instead of the sort of fire-breathing indictment an era of hyper-partisanship rewards, the senator kept her tone conversational and measured, focusing on working and middle-class Americans she said were invisible to the Bush White House and casting herself as a bipartisan problem-solver.

Little that Hillary does comes without forethought, and the effect, as shrewd political handicapper Charlie Cook noted afterward, was to avoid the hot rhetoric that, when it comes from a woman, detractors are quick to label strident or shrill.

As the front-runner, Clinton faces political peril from two fronts: Those tired of the Clintons for reasons of personality or character and those who would like the party to jettison Clintonian moderation in favor of fuller-throated liberalism.

There's little she can do about the former, but bombarding George W. Bush with a rhetorical fusillade might help her with those who want the Democrats to wage all out political warfare. Instead, in offering rhetoric that was more Bach than Beethoven, she reached toward the middle.

That demonstrates a discipline that could help her in the long run -- but which clearly gives rivals opportunities on her left.

Still, she had the crowd of 1,000 -- one of the largest since the "100 Club" dinner started in 1959 -- liking what they heard.

"I was more impressed than I was expecting to be," said Mark Mallory of Gilmanton.

"She seemed comfortable in her skin and very competent," added Nancy Ball, his wife.

"I thought she had just the right tone. My concern is whether she is electable, and I came out of the event feeling better about that issue."

This being New Hampshire, however, what Clinton won was more favorable notice than concrete support.

Talk of Barack Obama also bubbled about -- and even some of those sporting Hillary buttons were quick to note it meant only that they thought well of her, not that they were yet committed to her candidacy.

As she tries to create the impression of a juggernaut, Hillary has been staffing up with political talent -- and pressing hard for early commitments. With the February hiring of Nick Clemons, who had been executive director of the Democratic Party, as her state director, and party spokeswoman Kathleen Strand as her communications director, she has won notice for the team she's building. Last week, the House majority leader, Mary Jane Wallner of Concord, endorsed her, as did Executive Councilor Debora Pignatelli of Nashua.

On Saturday, state Representative Martha McLeod of Franconia told me she has decided to back the senator as well.

And an endorsement by Bill Shaheen, husband of popular former governor Jeanne Shaheen, and a valuable veteran of many winning New Hampshire campaigns, appears likely. Shaheen, a much-sought-after operative, says he still hasn't talked to all the candidates, but has met with Hillary twice and is impressed with her.

"I'm leaning towards her -- that's a fair statement," said Shaheen, who expects to decide in the next week or so. "She understands this isn't going to be easy," he added.

Meanwhile, Manchester Senator Lou D'Allesandro, a stalwart of John Edwards' 2004 New Hampshire campaign, sounds like a man more likely to end up with either Clinton or Obama this time around.

Regardless of whom you support, who will the sleeper in this race be?

That's a query I put to some of the operatives and activists I talked to.

Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd is winning some notice, though in no small part for having attracted former state party chairman Joe Keefe and his sister Maura to his camp.

But the name that came back most often was Bill Richardson, the New Mexico governor who counts among his credentials 14 years in Congress and stints as both UN ambassador and secretary of energy.

Although still low in the polls, Richardson is clearly creating some buzz -- and in that interest, opportunity lies.

Scot Lehigh's e-mail address is lehigh@globe.com.