--Obama never went negative enough for the media to charge him (as the Clinton campaign desperately wanted) with abandoning his "politics of hope"
--Hillary didn't go as negative as it briefly seemed she might after that ominous "no surprises" presser
--No private-behavior scandals hit the MSM
--No one publicly lost their temper or made a catastrophic gaffe
--No Clinton staff shake-up (winter)
--No Obama staff shake-up (fall)
--Neither John Kerry nor Ted Kennedy endorsed
Photo: Highway I-80 somewhere east of Des Moines, Jan. 1.
--Michael Crowley