Daggers drawn between Clinton, Obama in US debate
2007-08-19

Category Al Qaeda United Nations Nations North Korea Venezuela Pakistan People Barack Obama Pervez Musharraf Christopher Dodd Bill Richardson Joseph Biden Dennis Kucinich John Edwards Donald H. Rumsfeld Dick Cheney George W. Bush Hillary Clinton Event US Election 2008

Hillary Clinton vowed to beat the Republican "attack machine" but Barack Obama chided her as a symbol of poisoned politics, as the top two Democratic 2008 rivals clashed in their latest debate.

In a feisty showdown in the strategic state of Iowa, the two senators cranked up their feud over foreign policy and each insisted they were best qualified to be the next US president.

Less than five months before the midwestern state is scheduled to hold first nominating contests in the 2008 race, Obama implied Clinton was a symptom of the "backbiting and the score keeping" that had soured US politics.

"If you want somebody who can bring the country together around a common purpose and rally us around a common destiny, then I'm your guy," said the 46-year-old first-term Illinois senator.

But the former First Lady, 59, warned that after years on the ideological frontlines, she was the Democrats' best hope for grabbing back the White House, despite her questionable character ratings in some polls.

She said no one would escape the "Republican attack machine" without "high negatives" but insisted "I know how to beat them."

The character dispute is central to the Democratic race, with Clinton posing as the most seasoned choice, while Obama tries to spark a tsunami of generational change.

Clinton leads national Democratic polls, in some cases with a double digit lead over Obama. But in Iowa, the race is a virtual dead heat, with former vice presidential nominee John Edwards also in the mix.

The front-runner took the chance to jab Obama again over his previous remarks that as president, he would be ready to meet leaders of US foes like Iran, North Korea and Venezuela.

"I think that, when you've got that big an agenda facing you, you should not telegraph to our adversaries that you're willing to meet with them without preconditions during the first year in office," Clinton said.

But Obama responded: "I think that strong countries and strong presidents meet and talk with our adversaries. We shouldn't be afraid to do so, we've tried the other way. It didn't work."

Obama joked he limbered up for the clash televised by ABC television with a ride in the bumper cars at the Iowa state fair.

He also defended his vow to order a military strike on Al-Qaeda leaders on Pakistani soil if President Pervez Musharraf failed to act on any intelligence reports locating them there.

"If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and we've exhausted all other options, we should take him out before he plans to kill another 3,000 Americans," he said in reference to the September 11 attacks in 2001.

But Clinton warned Obama "Pakistan is on a knife's edge ... you've got to be very careful about what it is you say."

Former United Nations ambassador and current New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, fourth in national polls of the Democratic field, sought his own political advantage from the Clinton/Obama dispute.

"I think that Senator Obama does represent change. Senator Clinton has experience. Change and experience: with me, you get both," Richardson said.

The debate was the latest in a string of Democratic and Republican forums as the 2008 race heats up, and also included Senators Christopher Dodd, Joseph Biden, Edwards, congressman Dennis Kucinich and ex-senator Mike Gravel.

After what opponents view as several foreign policy gaffes, Obama has defended his qualifications and condemned his senatorial rivals for voting in the US Senate in 2002 to permit President George W. Bush to wage war in Iraq.

"Nobody had more experience than (former defense secretary) Donald Rumsfeld and (vice president) Dick Cheney and many of the people on this stage that authorized this war," Obama said.

"It indicates how we get into trouble when we engage in the sort of conventional thinking that has become the habit in Washington."