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Democrat rivals challenge Hillary
31/10/2007 11:42 - (SA)
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| Democratic presidential hopefuls John Edwards, Hillary Rodham Clinton, and Barack Obama take the stage before a debate at Drexel University in Philadelphia. (Matt Rourke, AP) |
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Philadelphia - Democrats Barack Obama and John Edwards sharply challenged Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's candour, consistency and judgement in a televised debate that underscored her front-runner status two months before the first presidential primary votes.
Obama, the Illinois senator, began immediately, saying Clinton has changed her positions on the North American Free Trade Agreement, torture policies and the Iraq war. Leadership, he said, does not mean "changing positions whenever it's politically convenient".
Edwards, the former North Carolina senator, was even sharper at times, saying Clinton "defends a broken system that's corrupt in Washington, DC". He stood by his earlier claim that she has engaged in "doubletalk".
Clinton, standing between the two men, largely shrugged off the remarks and defended her positions. She has been the focus of Republican candidates' "conversations and consternation", she said, because she is leading in the polls.
She said she has specific plans on Social Security, diplomacy and health care. "I have been standing against the Republicans, George Bush and Dick Cheney," she said, "and I will continue to do so, and I think Democrats know that".
Argument against Bush
But she avoided direct answers to several questions. The New York senator would not say how she would address the fiscal crisis threatening the Social Security pension system, she declined to pledge whether she would stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon or say whether she supports giving driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Rather, she tried to turn every issue into an argument against President George W Bush.
It was the Democrats' first debate in a month, and during that time Clinton has solidified her front-runner position, gaining in polls, taking the lead in fundraising and dominating the agenda.
The Iowa caucuses are scheduled for January 3, and the New Hampshire primary could be even earlier. The caucuses and primaries are to choose delegates to the party's national presidential nominating convention.
- AP
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