Second in a series of profiles of presidential candidates. We are running them in alphabetical order. To see all of the profiles after they have run, go to www.wcfcourier.com

NEWTON - After a speech on renewable energy, Hillary Clinton had time for a few questions.

Her campaign would soon be in damage-control mode because of one of those questions. A young woman stood up and asked about global warming. She later told her college newspaper the question had been planted by Clinton's staff.

But it was another question on that November afternoon, clearly not planted, that may say more about Clinton and her presidential campaign. A man asked how she would fix inequities in current trade deals.

She said there are no simple solutions, which wasn't the answer some in the audience wanted, here in a city that has just been abandoned by appliance-maker Maytag.

"What I am looking for is not a stale debate between, 'We're for trade' or 'We're against trade,' because I still think trade can be beneficial to America. I'm looking for smart trade," Clinton said, part of a much longer answer.

The audience saw Clinton's assets and liabilities laid bare. She showed a reluctance to take a side in a contentious issue. She demonstrated a soft touch when dealing with her husband's legacy, in this case his legacy on free trade. And she wasn't afraid to delve into a complicated explanation, even if it left the audience cold.

Clinton, 60, has used this approach ever since she began campaigning in Iowa last January. Her supporters say she is staking out workable positions that will help her govern. Her opponents say she has failed to say what she would do on the most important issues: the Iraq war, Social Security, immigration and trade.

Maternal toughness

Clinton came into the presidential race better known than any candidate in recent memory. As first lady and as a U.S. senator from New York she has earned a reputation for toughness and attention to detail.

She was raised in a Republican household in the Chicago suburbs. She met Bill Clinton at Yale Law School, and they moved to his home state of Arkansas.

As Bill Clinton rose to prominence, Hillary was there every step of the way as his top adviser.

"She was very much a player," said Jay Barth, a political science professor at Hendrix College in Conway, Ark.

He said her image in Arkansas could be summed up as "maternal toughness." She was aggressive, but it was almost always in the context of issues associated with women or children. In some ways, her tough image went against traditional notions of how a candidate's wife should act.

Former Iowa attorney general Bonnie Campbell met Hillary Clinton in the late-1980s and knew her throughout the White House years. Campbell worked in the Clinton administration from 1995 to 2001 and now co-chairs Hillary Clinton's Iowa campaign.

She said Clinton has learned from the battles of her husband's administration that politics is about compromise. Clinton has used this experience to create policy proposals that might actually pass, rather than ideas that would merely serve the short-term needs of the campaign.

"You can't ride in on that white horse and say, 'Hey boys and girls, this is how we're going to do it,'" Campbell said.

That approach is different from the other leading Democrats in the race. John Edwards and Obama have both argued Clinton is part of a Washington culture unable to make the kinds of dramatic changes needed.

But the battle of ideas may take a back seat to a battle of organizational efforts. Clinton's Iowa campaign has focused on outreach to women who might not otherwise participate in caucuses, such as single mothers and low-wage workers. Campaign officials hope to draw enough new people into the process to win on Jan. 3.

Simple questions, complex answers

Back in Newton, the man who asked Clinton about free trade asked a follow-up about a specific bill pending in Congress. Some people in the audience groaned and shifted in their seats as Clinton gave another detailed answer.

Afterward, the person who asked the question, James Ploeser of Des Moines, told a reporter he wasn't impressed. He works for the Iowa Free Trade Campaign, a group affiliated with organized labor that thinks most trade deals are bad for American workers.

"There's a lot of double-speak," he said.

His criticism, much like the attacks from Obama and Edwards, was that Clinton wasn't taking a stand.

Another person in the audience, former Gov. Tom Vilsack, a top Clinton supporter, saw the same exchange and had the opposite reaction. He said Clinton's answer showed her at her best - knowledgeable and ready to govern.

"Simple questions can sometimes involve complex answers," he said.

Contact Dan Gearino at (515) 243-0138 and dan.gearino@lee.net.