It was a relaxed Clinton who spoke in Decorah

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(Analysis by decorahnews.com's Paul Scott)

I like being a news reporter because I love surprises.  Hillary Clinton's appearance in Decorah Tuesday afternoon contained a fair number of surprises for me.

While the campaign for President has gotten more heated as the Iowa Caucus approaches, Clinton on Tuesday seemed very relaxed, even making a joke about TV ads that include warning "If you take this drug, your nose will fall off."

She did not go out of her way to criticize fellow Democrat Bernie Sanders, who has been closing the gap in Iowa.  She described "substantive differences" between herself and Sanders, but kept her strongest criticism for the field of Republican Presidential candidates.

She was also effective in relating to the audience, mentioning her previous trips to Decorah and dropping in examples of Iowans who had talked with her on the campaign trail about the issues she has been discussing.  At one point, when discussing climate change, she even suggested that Republican Presidential candidates "go talk to some professors at Luther College" if they didn't understand the science behind climate change predictions.

There was one problem with her Decorah appearance, however.  When she visited Luther College in September of last year, she was 60 minutes late in speaking.  On Tuesday at the Hotel Winneshiek, she was 70-75 minutes late.  If the trend continues, attending a Clinton rally will become the political equivalent of crossing the International Date Line--you'll lose an entire day!