No amount of compelling biography or personal charm or new politics could make up for that.

I happened to be reading Richard Reeves's compelling new biography of Richard Nixon last week, when a paragraph about Israel caught my eye.

"He doesn't have a compelling biography, and he seems like someone whose time has passed," said a Democratic strategist who admires Mr. Gephardt.

This compelling first biography follows Lucy Sprague Mitchell's lead and makes her life, not her work, the center of its story.

But Republican strategists said Mr. Kerry had attributes Dr. Dean did not, including a credible claim to experience in foreign policy and a compelling biography.

Both have compelling personal biographies - rising from obscurity and hardship to great prominence - but are relatively unknown outside their fields.

Mr. Patrick offered voters a compelling biography.

The judges are looking for people who not only look like their celebrities, according to the executive producers, but also have compelling biographies and talent.

He appealed to voters hungry for change with his compelling biography as a former prisoner of war in Vietnam and his promise that "I will never lie to you."

He had decided that Mr. McCain, with his compelling personal biography and maverick stances, had just the right resume for the post-Clinton years.