Obama, Clinton land blows in testy Martin Luther King Day debate  In a testy series of exchanges, Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama tangled over one another's records in a pre-South Carolina primary debate on Monday night.
The New York senator accused Obama of endorsing President Ronald Reagan's Republican policies.
"It is sometimes difficult to understand what Senator Obama has said," Clinton alleged, pointing to recent statements by Obama. "[H]ow do you determine what will happen in the future?"
She also accused the freshman Illinois senator of backing away from his opposition to the Iraq war.
"After having given [an anti-war speech], by next year, the speech was off his website, and next year, you were telling reporters, I agree with the conduct of the war, and next year in the Senate, you were voting to fund the war time after time after time," Senator Clinton argued. "It's more about the distinction between words and actions."
Obama rebutted Clinton's argument strongly, appearing to accuse her of not being sincere about her own principles by pointing to his work as a community organizer in Chicago.
"You were a corporate lawyer sitting on the board of Wal-Mart - I was fighting these fights," against the economic effects in minority communities of Reagan-era policies, he argued.
He added that he had not praised Reagan's policies, but only the "transformative way" in which he had advanced them by bringing Democrats over to the Republican side.
As the two continued to parry, Clinton and Obama's exchange escalated. Clinton first told CNN moderator Wolf Blitzer, "We're just getting warmed up." And Obama soon pointed out that when considering the senator's campaigning with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, "I can't tell who I'm running against."
When Blitzer brought the debate back to former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, the outsider candidate chided his opponents for personalizing the debate too much.
"I also want to know on behalf of voters here in South Carolina, this kind of squabbling, how many children is this going to get health care?" he asked. "This is not about us personally. It is about what we are trying to do for this country and what we believe in."
But Clinton disagreed that the debate was going in the wrong direction.
"I'm used to taking fire," she said. "When you get into this arena, you can't expect to have a hands off approach to your record."
A full transcript of the three candidates' exchange can be accessed at this link
Monday night's debate was sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, CNN, and the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. In addition to Blitzer, CNN's Joe Johns and Suzanne Malveaux moderated the discussion.
This video is from CNN Democratic Debate, broadcast January 21, 2008.
Candidates also dispute each other's economic policies
Earlier in the debate Senator Obama chided Clinton's economic and trade policies in a Monday night debate as the nation observed Martin Luther King Day. After first accusing Clinton of copying his proposal to stimulate the economy, the Illinois Democrat took aim at his counterpart's support for the North American Free Trade Agreement.
"NAFTA was a mistake," Obama said, adding that it had been 'devastating' for the US economy. "Hillary last year said this was a boon to the economy."
Clinton shrugged off the criticism, focusing instead on President Bush's proposed economic stimulus.
"The president's proposed stimulus package is not adequate," she said. "It is too little, too late."
Edwards criticized President Bush for failing to enforce the labor and environmental provisions of trade agreements. But Obama found an opportunity to turn this debating point to his favor.
"Next year it will be me enforcing those agreements," he declared to cheers.
Obama, Edwards trade jabs on health care proposals
Senator Obama also criticized the Clintons' efforts to pass universal health care in the 1990s.
"They did it behind closed doors and we've got to include the American people," he argued.
But before Senator Clinton was given a chance to respond, Edwards argued that Obama's proposal for health care would not insure all Americans because it did not mandate coverage for all Americans.
"There are three health care plans on this stage. Two are universal, one is not," the former North Carolina senator argued. "In order to be universal, it has to mandate coverage for everyone."
But Obama argued that Edwards was missing the point.
"The problem is not that people are avoiding getting health care," Obama said. "The problem is that they cannot afford it."
Clinton added that she believed universality in health care was a "core Democratic idea," and went on to argue that Obama's reformist approach was insufficient to deal with the problem.
"I am not running for president to put band aids on our problems," the former First Lady declared. "I want to get to universal health care."
Obama asked: Was Bubba "the First Black President?"
CNN's Joe Johns asked Obama if he agreed with African-American poet Toni Morrison's argument that former President Clinton was America's "first black president."
Obama answered the question in good humor.
"I would have to investigate more Bill's dancing abilities, and some of this other stuff before I accurately judge whether he was actually a brother," Obama responded.
Senator Clinton responded, "I'm sure that could be arranged."
But the black Senator also drew a broader point from Johns' question.
"I'm always inspired by young men and women who grew up in the south when segregation was still taking place...and to see that transformation in their own lives, that is powerful, that is hopeful," he said.
Taking up the question of the candidates' various experiences, Clinton said that the differences between the candidates should be emphasized in the Democratic contest.
"It would be unbecoming of us not to share those differences, because we are competing for the most important job in the country," she argued.
But Obama had a response of his own to Clinton's comment.
"I especially appreciate [they were] giving me a tough time because that shows that I'm doing pretty good," he said.
Clinton: President Bill is a "tremendous asset"
Malveaux asked Clinton whether her husband was too involved in her campaign. The senator was unfazed.
"He is very much advocating on my behalf, and I appreciate that, he is a tremendous asset," she argued.
But she added that, "This campaign is not about our spouses, it is about each of us individually....really the most important decision is who would be the best president on day one."
Obama then said he did not begrudge President Clinton for campaigning on his wife's behalf, but said there was a more important objective to keep in mind in the contest: changing the Democrats' base of support to include new, independent, and even Republican voters.
"We as Democrats have not had a working majority in a very long time, and what I mean by that is a working majority that could push through the kinds of bold initiatives all of us have proposed," he said. "One of the reasons I'm running for president is that I can inspire new people to get involved."
Edwards then opined that Arizona's Senator John McCain was the likely Republican nominee, and said he was the only Democrat who could defeat him.
"Who can compete against John McCain in every place in America?" he asked. "I can go anywhere in American and compete against John McCain and win."
Later, Obama argued that as a Christian, he would be able to reach out to the kind of voters Edwards was saying only he could win.
"It is important for us not to concede that ground," he said of the religious vote.
In the debate's final exchange, Obama disagreed with the notion that Dr. King would directly support any of the three candidates if he were alive today.
"I don't think Dr. King would endorse any of us," he said. "I think he would call on the American people to hold us accountable."
But in the debate's last word, Clinton reflected on Dr. King's legacy and seemed to reemphasize the need for political leadership, and not just principles.
"There was a meeting of morality and politics and political leaders finally responded," she concluded.
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