May 1 (Bloomberg) -- Hillary Clinton's most reliable applause line is about ending the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind education program. Barack Obama often spends more time on taxes than Iraq. And both routinely praise Republican John McCain.

Voters may not have that view of the presidential campaign trail, as news reports focus on the latest sniping between the two Democrats or how either of them is going after McCain. It's part of the challenge of finding what's new each day in a long primary season.

``Issues get obscured behind trivial story lines that have little relevance to voters' lives,'' said Alan Schroeder, a journalism professor at Northeastern University in Boston who has written about media and politics. ``The campaigns are staged and covered as a sort of never-ending reality show.''

A comparison of stump speeches given recently by Clinton and Obama shows much more that is alike than different. They both favor universal health care, programs to create jobs focused on cleaner, renewable sources of energy and changes to the tax code to prevent companies from shipping work overseas.

They even use some of the same language. When talking about the need for more preventive care, both use the example of how people often can't get the treatments needed to control diabetes until it gets to the point that they require an amputation.

China, Oil

Both refer to China as the ``banker'' for the U.S. Both comment on Exxon Mobil Corp.'s profits while discussing the rising cost of gas for consumers. In separate appearances a month apart in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, both Obama and Clinton likened their challenge to create ``green jobs'' to the space race.

And both are careful, before launching into criticism of presumptive Republican nominee McCain, to say how much they honor the Arizona senator, who was held as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam.

``He is a genuine American hero,'' Obama said in Winston- Salem on April 29.

``I admire his service to our country,'' Clinton said in Bristol, Pennsylvania, on April 14.

Clinton, 60, a New York senator, usually talks for about 30 to 35 minutes, mostly about domestic issues. In a recent speech, she spent six minutes on education, four minutes on health care, three minutes on her plan to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil and wove economic issues throughout.

Huge Cheers

She earns huge cheers when she pledges to bring troops back from Iraq, and says the world will breathe ``a sigh of relief'' when President George W. Bush leaves office. There also is applause for her promises to alter the tax code because ``it's wrong that somebody making $50 million a year on Wall Street pays a lower percent of his income in taxes than a nurse.''

Yet there are also surprises. She garners thunderous applause for her criticisms of No Child Left Behind, an education program that she supported in 2001. Clinton and other critics, including Obama, say the states never received enough federal money to administer the program, which she says requires educators to ``teach to the test.''

Voters say they are also struck by Clinton's specifics.

``She has a lot of good ideas,'' said Dawn McCarty, 32, a Miller Veneers worker who heard Clinton speak at her Indiana factory on April 29. ``It'd be nice to see them implemented.''

``She's right on the money with her programs and proposals,'' said Chuck Robbins, 45, a data operator at the same Indianapolis plant.

Focus on How

Obama, 46, an Illinois senator, prefers to talk about why the changes voters say they want are rarely achieved.

``Every four years presidential candidates come before you, they say we're going to fix health care; nothing happens,'' he said this week in Winston-Salem.

While he offers plans for taxes, education, health care and energy independence, Obama devotes much more of his 30-40 minute stump speeches to rhetoric about bridging partisan divides and sidelining special interests. He promises to bring a ``different kind of politics'' to the White House, telling the crowd they are ``Americans first, then we're Democrats and Republicans.''

He talks about Iraq, a signature issue because of his early opposition to the war. Yet, as the economy has faltered and become a bigger issue for voters, Obama now often spends more time discussing how he would lower middle-class taxes and make sure that low-income seniors don't pay taxes on Social Security.

`Speaks to the People'

The candidate ``really speaks to the people,'' said Barbara Liles, 51, a state worker who saw Obama speak in Winston-Salem. ``I like the way he brought the attention back to how he wants to deliver.''

Philip Greko, a Republican who switched his registration to vote for Obama in North Carolina, said it was nice to see the candidate for himself instead of relying on media reports to form an impression.

``They get these sound bites and you only get to hear what they want you to hear,'' Greko, 57, said after catching Obama at a town hall in Hickory, North Carolina. ``He gave a lot of honest answers to some vital questions that the average American has.''

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristin Jensen in Fort Wayne, Indiana, at 1823 or kjensen@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 1, 2008 00:01 EDT