The Chicago Tribune today debuts Trail Guide, a weekly snapshot of the campaign. Tidbits follow.

WHO'S UP, WHO'S DOWN

Clinton No. 1 for black voters

Hillary Clinton has enjoyed an upbeat week. A poll of black voters gave her a more favorable rating than Barack Obama. She was endorsed by South Carolina ministers, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and the Amalgamated Transit Union. One possible negative: The revelation that a questioner at CNN's Republican debate was an unpaid Clinton adviser.

Giuliani faces a new security issue

Rudolph Giuliani came under criticism after the Politico Web site reported that, as New York mayor, he billed obscure city agencies for security expenses during the time when he was beginning an extramarital relationship with future wife Judith Nathan in the Hamptons. Giuliani denied wrongdoing.

Hawkeyes high on Huckabee

A Rasmussen Reports poll of likely Iowa caucusgoers showed Mike Huckabee ahead with 28 percent to 25 percent for Mitt Romney, a statistical tie within the poll's margin of error. Huckabee was endorsed by Jerry Falwell Jr., son of the late evangelist, and some commentators believe he won Wednesday's debate.

DISPATCH/ Mike Dorning reports from Littleton, N.H.

There was already snow up on the White Mountains and fog down in the notches this week when Barack Obama arrived in New Hampshire's sparsely populated North Country to troll for votes.

It's a rural region of paper mills, ski resorts and candymakers. In fact, a store in tiny Littleton boasts it has the world's largest candy counter.The presidential primary schedule dictates that candidates spend a lot of time in rural areas in New Hampshire and Iowa. That seemed to be having an influence on Obama, a politician renowned for the multicultural fluency he developed through an early life spent in such varied places as Indonesia, Hawaii, the South Side of Chicago and Harvard Law School.

At the first event of the day, in a Norman Rockwell-style wooden community center complete with fireplace and Christmas tree, Obama held a round-table discussion with independent voters.

Choosing an unlikely metaphor to criticize the No Child Left Behind Act for its reliance on testing without enough funding, Obama offered "a Midwestern saying, from farm communities."

"You don't fatten the hog by weighing it all the time," Obama quoted.

Then he paused and smiled, in evident appreciation of the image. "Pretty good saying."

LOOKING AHEAD

Candidates of both parties plan to campaign feverishly in Iowa and New Hampshire over the next few days, but the Democrats have more group events:

*The Democrats gather Friday for the Democratic National Committee winter meeting in Vienna, Va.

*On Saturday, the Democrats hold two events in Iowa -- the Heartland Presidential Forum, hosted by citizen activist groups, and the Iowa Black & Brown Presidential Forum, focusing on minority issues. Both are in Des Moines.

*On Tuesday, National Public Radio and Iowa Public Radio sponsor a debate for the Democrats, also in Des Moines. A similar event for the Republicans was canceled because of candidate scheduling conflicts.