Hillary Clinton listed nearly a dozen reasons why she was happy to be in Binghamton, New York, Monday afternoon, from the chance to talk nanotechnology to the gorgeous fall foliage. About the only thing she didn't mention, but surely welcomed, was that not a single reporter or civilian asked whether she's running for president.

The senator spoke at a forum on venture capital organized by her office, the twelfth in a series of meetings that are part of her "New Jobs NY" initiative. Her visit to SUNY Binghamton lasted only an hour, but it was a vivid reminder of the upstate-downstate political divide. Not the one following conventional wisdom, that the city is more liberal and the rest of the state more conservative. This split is about priorities: Upstate wants to know what Clinton can do now, not what she's going to do in '08, which is the endless fixation back in the city.

Even the skeptics skipped the harangues about Bill and the scandals and went straight to practical problems. "We were devastated by the floods; we lost $300,000 in new equipment," said Anthony Skojec, a partner in an Internet startup. "FEMA has given us $465! I never much liked Hillary, but if she can do something about the red tape, we don't care what party she is."

"Given her baggage, I've been very pleasantly surprised at the energy and creativity she's brought to the job. And I'm a registered Republican," said Chris Forbes, the CEO of Knovel, a science-and-technology information company* with offices on Fifth Avenue and in downtown Binghamton. "Chuck Schumer has done many of the same things, and he's very accessible. But she brings that celebrity, and the spotlight helps get things done."

Even the two local TV reporters omitted the presidential question, replacing it with softballs about the venture-capital program. "Why bother?" said a glimmering blonde from the Fox affiliate. "She just says 'no' anyway. Or maybe we really are just nicer up here."

— Chris Smith

* Correction, September 26, 2006: We originally referred to Knovel as a venture-capital firm instead of a science-and-technology information company.