IN THE course of a pitched 15-month campaign and as they sought to be sweethearts to blue-collar America, senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton almost outdid pop queen Madonna as they reinvented themselves.

Initially, Mrs Clinton, who studied law at Yale, stuck to her image as a competent policy wonk as she cultivated an air of being the inevitable Democrat nominee.

But voters could not warm to a cold politician, no matter how efficient.

After a shock upset in the very first nominating contest in Iowa, she bagged her maiden win in New Hampshire, thanks apparently to a teary moment before the cameras. Pundits said she had appeared 'attractively feminine'.

The 'vulnerable' woman morphed once again when sheer staying power became requisite. In recent weeks, she has been seen downing beer, driving a pick-up truck and picking up a lot of blue-collar credibility.

Mr Obama, too, had a makeover, regardless of whether or not it was to his liking.

Born to a black father, and whose mother at one point had to use food stamps to feed her family, the Harvard law graduate was sold as the personification of the American dream.

It soured when Mr Obama seemed to wilt under attack for his association with a controversial pastor, and made comments about 'bitter' small-towners clinging to guns and religion during tough economic times.

But soon he was appearing in advertisements shooting baskets, turning up at bowling alleys and wolfing down 'biscuits and grits'.

He poked fun at himself, saying: 'I am thin but that doesn't mean I'm not tough.'

BHAGYASHREE GAREKAR