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Clinton, Obama criticized over war vote
By Steve Holland
10 minutes ago
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Democratic presidential front-runners
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) came under attack from rivals on Sunday for showing insufficient leadership on ending the war in
Iraq.
The two-hour debate, in which the main target was
President George W. Bush, was held in the state where the country's first primary will be held early next year ahead of the November 2008 election.
It also featured some strong words from the eight Democrats, each hoping to win back the White House held by the Republican Bush since January 2001, on what to do about Iran's nuclear ambitions and ending the bloodshed in Darfur.
Clinton, a New York senator criticized by the party left for voting for a congressional war resolution in 2002, found herself under attack for voting along with Illinois Sen. Obama against an Iraq war funding bill last month that did not include a troop pullout date.
North Carolina Sen.
John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004 who is trailing the two front-runners, said the votes by Clinton and Obama, while the right thing to do, were done too quietly and without firm leadership.
There is a difference "between leadership and legislating," Edwards said at the debate at St. Anselm College.
"Senator Clinton and Senator Obama did not say anything about how they were going to vote until they appeared on the floor of the Senate and voted. They were among the last people to vote," he said.
Clinton tried to blunt the attack by directing fire at Bush. "This is
George Bush's war," she said.
Obama said he had opposed the war from the outset.
"It is not easy to vote for cutting off funding, because the fact is there are troops on the ground," Obama said.
"So you're about four and a half years late on leadership on this issue," Obama responded to Edwards.
A longshot candidate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, was the only candidate who voted for the funding. With Democratic voters are looking for a way out of Iraq, Biden defended his vote as essential to protecting U.S. troops in combat.
Both Ohio Rep.
Dennis Kucinich and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, two even longer shot candidates, joined Edwards in criticizing the front-runners.
"This war belongs to the Democratic Party because the Democrats were put in charge by the people in the last election with the thought that they were going to end the war," said Kucinich.
Gravel said: "It's the Democrats' war also" and argued that anyone who had originally voted to authorize the conflict ought to get out of the race.
"That disqualifies them for president," he insisted.
The candidates also debated
Iran and Sudan, covering many of the foreign policy dilemmas facing the United States.
Clinton, criticized by some in her party for checking the political winds before giving a firm answer on issues, attacked Bush's policy of refusing to talk to Iran over its nuclear program but would not say what she would do if diplomacy failed with Iran.
"I'm not going to get into hypotheticals," she said.
Biden had no such qualms, saying if diplomacy failed, "at the end of the day, if they posed a missile, stuck it on a pad, I'd take it out."
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations, said he would consider a boycott of the
Summer Olympics in China if Beijing did not join the United States in trying to get the Sudanese government to stop the bloodshed in the Darfur region.
Biden said the United States should impose a "no-fly" zone over Sudan to stop the violence but again, Clinton was careful on the question.
"I don't think it's useful to be talking in these kind of abstract, hypothetical terms," she said.
10 minutes ago
MANCHESTER, New Hampshire (Reuters) - Democratic presidential front-runners
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama (news, bio, voting record) came under attack from rivals on Sunday for showing insufficient leadership on ending the war in
Iraq.
The two-hour debate, in which the main target was
President George W. Bush, was held in the state where the country's first primary will be held early next year ahead of the November 2008 election.
It also featured some strong words from the eight Democrats, each hoping to win back the White House held by the Republican Bush since January 2001, on what to do about Iran's nuclear ambitions and ending the bloodshed in Darfur.
Clinton, a New York senator criticized by the party left for voting for a congressional war resolution in 2002, found herself under attack for voting along with Illinois Sen. Obama against an Iraq war funding bill last month that did not include a troop pullout date.
North Carolina Sen.
John Edwards, the Democratic vice presidential nominee in 2004 who is trailing the two front-runners, said the votes by Clinton and Obama, while the right thing to do, were done too quietly and without firm leadership.
There is a difference "between leadership and legislating," Edwards said at the debate at St. Anselm College.
"Senator Clinton and Senator Obama did not say anything about how they were going to vote until they appeared on the floor of the Senate and voted. They were among the last people to vote," he said.
Clinton tried to blunt the attack by directing fire at Bush. "This is
George Bush's war," she said.
Obama said he had opposed the war from the outset.
"It is not easy to vote for cutting off funding, because the fact is there are troops on the ground," Obama said.
"So you're about four and a half years late on leadership on this issue," Obama responded to Edwards.
A longshot candidate, Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, was the only candidate who voted for the funding. With Democratic voters are looking for a way out of Iraq, Biden defended his vote as essential to protecting U.S. troops in combat.
Both Ohio Rep.
Dennis Kucinich and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, two even longer shot candidates, joined Edwards in criticizing the front-runners.
"This war belongs to the Democratic Party because the Democrats were put in charge by the people in the last election with the thought that they were going to end the war," said Kucinich.
Gravel said: "It's the Democrats' war also" and argued that anyone who had originally voted to authorize the conflict ought to get out of the race.
"That disqualifies them for president," he insisted.
The candidates also debated
Iran and Sudan, covering many of the foreign policy dilemmas facing the United States.
Clinton, criticized by some in her party for checking the political winds before giving a firm answer on issues, attacked Bush's policy of refusing to talk to Iran over its nuclear program but would not say what she would do if diplomacy failed with Iran.
"I'm not going to get into hypotheticals," she said.
Biden had no such qualms, saying if diplomacy failed, "at the end of the day, if they posed a missile, stuck it on a pad, I'd take it out."
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, a former U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations, said he would consider a boycott of the
Summer Olympics in China if Beijing did not join the United States in trying to get the Sudanese government to stop the bloodshed in the Darfur region.
Biden said the United States should impose a "no-fly" zone over Sudan to stop the violence but again, Clinton was careful on the question.
"I don't think it's useful to be talking in these kind of abstract, hypothetical terms," she said.
Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Dodd did well.
Biden was too shrill; Richardson wouldn't stay on point.
Kucinich doesn't seem to be cut from presidential timber, although I like his healthcare plan. Gravel came across as a fringe element.
but she's one of the people I'm looking hard at.
but such as life
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