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Clinton, Obama in fierce debate
27/02/2008 07:27 - (SA)
Cleveland - Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton clashed sharply in a high-stakes one-on-one debate on Tuesday, accusing each other of falsely portraying their stances on health care, trade and other issues.
Clinton, who needs to win next week in Ohio and Texas to
keep her presidential campaign alive after Obama's streak of 11
straight victories in nominating contests, went on the attack
early in the debate at Cleveland State University in Ohio.
Obama fired back repeatedly in a series of sometimes heated
but controlled exchanges.
The debate, the last before next Tuesday's contests, was sharper in tone than last week's encounter in Texas, but far less personal and angry than a
debate last month in South Carolina.
Criticism of Obama campaign
Clinton kept up her recent criticism of Obama campaign
literature sent to Ohio voters that she said mischaracterised
her health care proposal, which includes mandates requiring
Americans to purchase health insurance.
"We should have a good debate that uses accurate
information, not false, misleading and discredited information,
especially on something as important as whether or not we will
achieve quality, affordable health care for everyone," the New
York senator said.
Obama, an Illinois senator, said Clinton has frequently
misrepresented his health care plan, which does not include
mandates and which some critics suggest could leave 15 million
Americans uninsured.
'Negative attacks'
Obama said he was interested in bringing the cost of health
care down and making coverage more affordable and enforcing
mandates could create a burden on some low-income Americans.
Clinton's criticisms, he said, were part of a consistent
pattern.
"Senator Clinton has ... constantly sent out negative
attacks on us, e-mail, robo-calls, flyers, television ads,
radio calls, and we haven't whined about it because I
understand that's the nature of these campaigns," he said.
"But to suggest somehow that our mailing is somehow
different from the kinds of approaches that Senator Clinton has
taken throughout this campaign I think is simply not
accurate."
Aggressive
With her campaign on the line, Clinton has aggressively
attacked Obama in the last few days, questioning his readiness
to become commander in chief and chiding him for the health
care campaign literature sent to Ohio voters.
Clinton, once the odds-on favourite to win the Democratic
nomination for the November election, has lost once strong
polling leads in Ohio and Texas as Obama has gained momentum
and made inroads among her supporters.
In the debate, she attacked Obama for claiming she
supported the North American Free Trade Agreement, which she
said she believes should be renegotiated. She was first lady
when her husband, President Bill Clinton, approved the deal.
The trade agreement is unpopular in Ohio, where it has been
blamed for contributing to a broad loss of manufacturing jobs
in the state.
"You know, I have been a critic of NAFTA from the very
beginning. I didn't have a public position on it because I was
part of the administration. But when I started running for the
Senate, I have been a critic," Clinton said.
But Obama repeated the charge and said he would push to
have NAFTA redone.
"I think that it is inaccurate for Senator Clinton to say
that she's always opposed NAFTA. In her campaign for Senate,
she said that NAFTA, on balance, had been good for New York and
good for America," he said.
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