Sarcasm, however, is very dangerous in politics because if people take sarcastic comments seriously they can be damaging (there is no sarcasm font in newspapers).  I think it's sad that people think that Chelsea Clinton is exactly and only as she appears on the campaign trail.  When, in reality, all of us are to some extent different at work than we are amongst friends.

But then overall, the entire piece is idiotic.  One of the great things that comes with aging is that I no longer read generational pieces as though they have some sort of wisdom to impart (like I did in my early 20s).  Instead, I see them for the crap they are.

Clinton Steals One Show, While Obama Endures Another

By ALESSANDRA STANLEY
Senator Barack Obama sat hunched on Sunday across the desk from Tim Russert on "Meet The Press" on NBC and wearily endured question after question about his relationship with the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright Jr.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton stood up from her armchair on Sunday to tower over George Stephanopoulos on "This Week" on ABC and merrily took on all critics, even the king of the Clinton-bashers, the talk-radio host Rush Limbaugh.

"He's always had a crush on me," Mrs. Clinton said with a sly smile.

Talk shows, even the more serious news programs, are never really about talk; they are about image and demeanor. Together, "Meet the Press" and its rival "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" provided an arresting tableau of the reversal of fortunes in the Democratic race. Mrs. Clinton was forceful, confident and at times even frisky as she easily deflected questions from Mr. Stephanopoulos and members of a town-hall-style meeting in Indianapolis. Mr. Obama, usually the one to see the humor in politics, instead looked grave and dispirited.

The anchors, on the other hand, did not reverse roles: as usual, Mr. Russert came out ahead in that Sunday talk-show contest. Mrs. Clinton gave ABC a more vivid and dynamic show, but it came at Mr. Stephanopoulos's expense. Mrs. Clinton seemed to relish the opportunity to undercut him, a former adviser to her husband, with needling jokes and alpha-candidate body blocks.

When Mr. Stephanopoulos asked her about an ABC survey suggesting that 6 of 10 people thought she was dishonest, she was on her feet and he was still seated, and she dismissed the notion while staring down the ABC anchor like a school principal quelling an impertinent eighth grader.

Mr. Russert never ceded control of his hourlong interview, but he also failed to get a provocative sound bite from his guest. Mr. Obama said he had learned one lesson from the prolonged debacle over his former pastor, namely that "when you're in national politics, it's always good to pull the Band-Aid off quick," then quickly ignored it, giving long, thoughtful and professorial answers to Mr. Russert instead of changing the subject to his advantage.

Of course, Mrs. Clinton had the edge right from the start: the first question was about her gas tax holiday, a proposal that her Democratic rival rejects as a gimmick. Mr. Stephanopoulos challenged Mrs. Clinton to name one serious economist in favor of the measure.

"We've got to get out of this mindset where somehow elite opinion is always on the side of doing things that really disadvantage the vast majority of Americans," Mrs. Clinton retorted crisply. Mrs. Clinton did not even flinch when a woman in the audience, an Obama supporter who said she made less than $25,000 a year, argued she, too, thought Mrs. Clinton was "pandering" for short-term political gain.

"Call me crazy," the young woman said, "but I actually listen to economists because they know what they studied."

Mrs. Clinton ignored the sarcasm and rose eagerly to her feet to reply, a power move that put the ABC control room in a quandary: by standing, Mrs. Clinton cut the seated Mr. Stephanopoulos out of the shot. One camera pulled back to try to get the anchor back in the frame, but it was so far away that viewers could barely make out the figures on stage. The camera pulled in on Mrs. Clinton, then moved around to an angle that showed the twosome together, though from behind. Eventually, Mr. Stephanopoulos gave up and stood up next to her, his head several inches below Mrs. Clinton's.

Mrs. Clinton kept at it. When Mr. Stephanopoulos tried to challenge her on trade policy, she challenged him. "Now, you remember this, because George did work in that '92 campaign, and George and I actually were against Nafta," she said sweetly, addressing the audience. "I'm talking about him in his previous life, before he was an objective journalist and didn't have opinions about such matters."

When he tried to flummox her by asking whether the campaign would ever release the names of donors who had given money to her husband's foundation, Mrs. Clinton shut him down with a one word answer: "No."

Television interviews provide snapshots, not full portraits, but that does not make them any less telling. Mr. Obama revealed that he was not impervious to pressure, while Mrs. Clinton once again proved that it takes more than a village to make her sweat.