Democrats differ on details on Iraq, health care

Oraneburg, Apr 27: The eight Democratic White House contenders agreed today on the need to quickly pull US troops out of Iraq and provide universal health care to Americans, but differed on the details during a largely polite first debate.

The initial face-to-face encounter of the 2008 campaign produced few fireworks but gave voters their first extended view of the candidates and issues in a Democratic race already being waged at a breakneck pace 18 months before the November 2008 election.

On the day the Senate approved a bill to fund the Iraq war and set timetables for withdrawal by 2008, New Mexico Gov Bill Richardson said he would go further and support the removal of all US troops by the end of this year.

''This war is a disaster. We must end this war,'' Richardson said.

Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, one of the four candidates to vote for the funding bill, urged Congress to override an expected veto by President George W Bush.

New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, who leads national polls in the Democratic race, refused again to apologize for her 2002 vote authorizing the war or call it a mistake. Her stance has angered some Democratic activists.

The other Democratic candidates who voted for the 2002 resolution, including former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Sens. Chris Dodd of Connecticut and Joseph Biden of Delaware, have called their votes a mistake.

Edwards declined to take a direct shot at Clinton, though, when asked about his past statements that those who voted for the resolution needed to be more honest about doing so.

''Senator Clinton and anyone else who voted for this war has to search themselves and decide whether they believe they've voted the right way. If so, they can support their vote,'' Edwards said.

''If they believe they didn't, I think it's important to be straightforward and honest,'' he said.

Health Care

On health care, Edwards defended his proposal for a universal plan to cover all Americans and be paid for by raising taxes on those making more than 2,00,000 dollar a year.

''I think we have a responsibility, if you want to be president of the United States, to tell the American people what it is you want to do,'' Edwards said. ''Rhetoric's not enough. High-falutin' language is not enough.'' Richardson has been adamant that a universal health care plan could be instituted without raising taxes. ''As Democrats, I just hope that we always don't think of new taxes to pay for programs,'' he said.

The debate, the earliest in presidential campaign history, provided candidates little opportunity to address one another.

The candidates were given one minute to answer questions, and they did not make opening or closing statements.

Clinton, who would be the first female president, has seen Obama cut into her national lead in polls and match her in fund raising. Obama would be the first black president.

The debate also gave five other contenders also got a chance to grab some of the national spotlight -- Richardson, Dodd, Biden, Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich and former Sen. Mike Gravel of Alaska.

The Democratic debate was held in a crucial early primary state; South Carolina holds the first nominating contest in the South in January 2008.

It offered some revealing and offbeat moments.

Obama said the Confederate flag, which is displayed on the grounds of the South Carolina capital and has been a controversial symbol of old South racism, ''should be put in a museum. That's where it belongs.'' Biden drew the night's biggest laugh by far when asked about his tendency to give verbose and sometimes gaffe-laden responses to questions. Asked if he could convince voters he could restrain himself, he responded simply ''yeah.'' None of the candidates backed Kucinich's effort to impeach Vice President Dick Cheney, and Edwards went blank when asked to name his moral leader. He said he couldn't name one, but eventually named God, his wife and his father.

Reuters>