She was viewed as too polarising to win over Middle America, too stiff a campaigner to woo a crowd and too closely identified with the Iraq war to get the support of liberal Democrats.

But emerging largely unscathed yesterday after appearing before a convention of liberal bloggers – a constituency that has been hostile over her vote for the Iraq war – Hillary Clinton continued to confound the conventional wisdom about her campaign.

Mrs Clinton, appearing with all but one of the Democratic presidential candidates before the forum of 1,500 bloggers, continued to show her unexpected skill as a campaigner and ability to gain the respect, if not the affection, of some of her sharpest critics.

The former First Lady remains a widely despised figure for many Republicans, particularly conservatives, and it is still far from certain that America is ready for a woman president, especially one named Clinton. But she continues to overcome what many believed would be her greatest vulnerabilities.

As her performance at the bloggers’ convention in Chicago showed, one of the Democrats’ most intensely antiwar groups, she has gone a long way to defuse the anger among activists over her 2002 vote authorising the war.

Six months ago she was regularly booed on the issue before similar crowds. On Saturday she was booed only once, but not over the war – on the less emotive issue of campaign contributions. The presence of all her main rivals also underscored the rapidly growing power of the “net-roots” within the Democratic Party.

Mrs Clinton’s rhetoric on Iraq has helped to pacify liberal anger with her calls for a timetabled withdrawal and votes to cut funds for the conflict. Although in the small print of her policy speeches she advocates leaving troops in Iraq to fight al-Qaeda and train Iraqis – the same approach as many Republicans – many liberals believe she has come round to their position.

There were also predictions that, compared with her charismatic challenger, Barack Obama, Mrs Clinton would be brittle and unappealing as a campaigner. In fact she has been relaxed and charming. In debates she has frequently beaten Mr Obama, who has appeared overcautious, and she has succeeded in sowing doubts about his foreign policy gravitas.

After the bloggers forum, Markos Moulitsas Zuniga, whose Daily Kos blog is one of the most influential on the Democratic Left, said: “I think she did very well. We [antiwar liberals] may not decide she’s our first choice, but she’s not a bad choice.” In national Democratic polls Mrs Clinton has opened a lead over Mr Obama of about 20 points. But in key early states it appears much closer. Mr Obama and John Edwards are now tied with Mrs Clinton in the first caucus state of Iowa, according to the Washington Post. Mr Obama and Mr Edwards, John Kerry’s 2004 running mate, could still win the nomination.

But in The Washington Post poll Mrs Clinton was way ahead of her rivals on the key issues of experience, leadership and “best chance of getting elected” – which was not the case when she declared her candidacy in January.

44% Clinton

23% Obama

14% Edwards

Source: Newsweek poll August 1, nationwide amongst Democrats

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