Rivals Gang Up on Clinton at Democrat Debate
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At a debate in Philadelphia last night, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination, Senator Clinton, faced a steady stream of attacks over her views on Iran and Iraq and well as her refusal to call for the immediate release of records of her White House records as First Lady.
However, Mrs. Clinton’s only serious stumble came in response to a question on an unexpected issue, Governor Spitzer’s plan to issue drivers licenses to illegal aliens.
Senator Obama and a former senator, John Edwards of North Carolina, led the early charge against Mrs. Clinton, though they were abetted by the debate’s moderators, Tim Russert and Brian Williams.
Asked to explain his claims that Mrs. Clinton was trying to vote and sound Republican, Mr. Obama said she has waffled on trade, torture, and the war in Iraq in a way that undermined her ability to work for major changes in Washington. “The way to bring about that change is to offer some sharp contrasts with the other party,” Mr. Obama said. “It does not mean changing positions whenever it’s politically convenient. … That may be politically savvy, but I don’t think that offers the clear contrast that we need.”
Mr. Edwards ridiculed Mrs. Clinton for saying that she was trying to press President Bush to pursue diplomacy with Iran when she voted for a resolution labeling the Iranian Revolutionary Guard as terrorists.
“She said she wanted to maximize pressure on the Bush Administration, so the way to do that is to vote yes on a resolution that looks like it was written literally by the neocons? I mean, has anyone read this thing?” Mr. Edwards asked incredulously. “The way you put pressure on this administration is you stand up to them. You say, ‘No.'”
Another candidate, Senator Biden of Delaware, said the passage of the Iranian resolution hurt American consumers. “All this talk of war. All this talk of declaring people to be terrorists drove up the price of oil,” he said. “It plays into this whole urban legend that America’s on a crusade against Islam.”
Mrs. Clinton, the only candidate in the Democratic field who backed the Iranian resolution, defended her vote as a way to give America leverage in talks with Iran. “You need both carrots and sticks,” she said. “Having those economic sanctions hanging over their head gives our negotiators one of the sticks they need.”
Mrs. Clinton weathered those attacks and others with aplomb, but, with just about five minutes to go in the two-hour debate, she seemed to run into trouble following a fairly straightforward question from Mr. Russert about her recent statement to an editorial board that Mr. Spitzer’s plan to license illegal aliens “makes a lot of sense.”
“What Governor Spitzer is trying to do is fill the vacuum left by the failure of this administration to bring about comprehensive immigration reform,” Mrs. Clinton said at first.
“They are undocumented workers they are driving on their roads the possibility of them having an accident that harms themselves or others is just a matter of the odds it’s probability. … I believe we need to get back to comprehensive immigration reform because no state no matter how well intentioned can fill this gap.”
Mr. Russert then polled the field for someone who opposed giving licenses to illegals, prompting Senator Dodd of Connecticut to speak up. “A license is a privilege and that ought not to be extended in my view,” he said.
At that point, Mrs. Clinton jumped back in. “I just want to add, I did not say that it should be done, but I certainly recognize why Governor Spitzer is trying to do it,” she said.
“Wait a minute, you said, ‘Yes, I thought it made sense to do it,'” Mr. Dodd said, as several of the candidates rolled their eyes and groused.
“No, I didn’t, Chris,” Mrs. Clinton said. She went on to describe Mr. Spitzer’s plan to have three tiers of identification, in part to address concerns that illegal aliens might use licenses to board aircraft.
“That’s a bureaucratic nightmare,” Mr. Dodd replied.
Mr. Russert stepped in and asked Mrs. Clinton to clarify whether she did or did not back Mr. Spitzer’s plan, but she seemed reluctant to be pinned down.
“You know, Tim, this is where everybody plays gotcha. It makes a lot of sense. What is the governor supposed to do?” the New York Senator said, raising her voice for one of the first times in the debate. “We have failed and George Bush has failed. Do I think this is the best thing for any governor to do? No. But do I understand the sense of real desperation trying to get a handle on this.”
Mrs. Clinton’s rivals quickly jumped on what seemed to be an illustration of their complaints that Mrs. Clinton’s hedging could be a liability.
“I don’t want it to go unnoticed. Unless I missed something, Senator Clinton said two different things in the course of about two minutes,” Mr. Edwards observed. “This is a real issue for the country. America is looking for a president who will say the same thing who will be consistent.”
“I was confused on Senator Clinton’s answer. I couldn’t tell whether she was for it or against it,” Mr. Obama said, reprising a Republican knock on the Democratic nominee in 2004, Senator Kerry of Massachusetts. “Immigration is a difficult issue, but part of leadership is not just looking backwards and seeing what’s popular or trying to gauge popular sentiment.” Mr. Obama said he thinks issuing the licenses to undocumented immigrants “is the right idea.”
Earlier, Mr. Russert put Mrs. Clinton on the spot by asking her whether she would ask her husband to withdraw a written decision that allows records of her White House advice, and other Clinton-era papers, to be withheld from the public through 2012.
“The archives is moving as rapidly as the archives moves,” Mrs. Clinton said, adding that many records from her health care task force have been made public. Pressed further, she seemed to distance herself from Mr. Clinton’s choice. “That’s not my decision to make,” she said.
While National Archives officials acknowledged that they are struggling with a backlog of millions of pages of records, officials have confirmed that about 57 records requests have been processed by the archives and are awaiting review by Mr. Clinton’s representative.
Mr. Obama jumped on the issue as an illustration of how nominating Mrs. Clinton might mire Democrats in past fights. “This is an example of not turning the page,” the Illinois senator said, picking up on a comment by Mrs. Clinton that she was trying to do just that. “Not releasing these records, Hillary, at the same time you are making the claim that this is a basis for your experience, is a problem,” he said.
Despite that exchange, at times Mr. Edwards was more aggressive in his attacks on Mrs. Clinton than was Mr. Obama. As the Illinois senator was egged on by Mr. Williams, Mr. Obama quipped that the press was making too much of his promise to get tough with Mrs. Clinton. “I think this is the most hyped fight since Rocky-Apollo Creed,” he said.