South Carolina Democratic debate transcript

Obama: Well, first of all, I want to thank Marsha's husband for his service.

And one of the enormous difficulties of this war has been the strain it's placed on our men and women in uniform. We have seen our Army and our Reserves and our National Guard all being stretched to a breaking point.

And that's one of the reasons why I proposed that we're going to have to increase the size of our ground forces, so we can stop the sort of rotations that we've been placing them on, which have been putting enormous strain not only on the soldiers themselves, but also their families.

But, look, we are one vote away -- we are one signature away or 16 votes away from ending this war. One signature away.

Now, if the president is not going to sign the bill that has been sent to him, then what we have to do is gather up 16 votes in order to override his veto.

And I think that the men and women in uniform have performed valiantly in terms of overthrowing Saddam Hussein and giving the Iraqi people an opportunity to bring their country together.

Williams: Time.

Obama: But what we can't do is expect that we can continue to impose a military solution on what is essentially a political problem, and that's what we have to organize around.

Williams: Senator Clinton, 30-second rebuttal.

Clinton: Well, I think that what Barack said is right. I mean, part of our challenge is to put together the political support throughout the country, particularly within the Republican Party to join with us to bring an end to this war. You know, it sounds simple to say it, but it is more difficult to achieve it.

And the problem is that the president seems determined not to change course, despite the fact that we are not gaining ground.

We are in the middle of a multi-sided, sectarian civil war. And we are doing everything we can to begin to move us out. And we need Republican support to finish the job.

Williams: We enter now the second phase of tonight's conversation. The in-house title for these questions was "Elephants in the Room," according to our political staff -- what may be uncomfortable questions about issues or beliefs attached, for whatever reason, to all of you -- perception issues, for lack of a better word.

Senator Obama, you go first.

You've promised in your campaign a new kind of politics, but just this week the Chicago Sun-Times reported on questionable ties you have with a donor who was charged last year for demanding kickbacks on Illinois business deals.

Aren't you practicing the very same kind of politics that many of the others on this stage have engaged in?

Obama: Well, not all, we have thousands of donors. This donor engaged in some ethical (sic) behavior and I have denounced it.

But I have a track record of bringing people around this new kind of politics, since I was in the state legislature.

The first bill I ever passed was campaign finance reform legislation -- the first in a generation in Illinois.

Here, in the United States Senate we were able to work to strengthen the lobbying ethics reform bill, despite the resistance of some of my colleagues in both parties.

And, in terms of how we've been running this campaign, we have seen that I have not taken money from federal registered lobbyists. We are not taking money from PACs.

What we are doing is organizing ordinary people to do extraordinary things all across the country. And that's what its going to require in order to change politics in this country.

We know what the challenges are, and we've got good plans and ideas on health care and education and energy. What's been lacking is the political will to get it done, and that's the kind of movement that I intend to build during the course of this campaign.

Williams: Senator, thank you. Senator Edwards, you've spoken with great passion and energy and eloquence about the issue of poverty in the United States, your "two Americas" theme.

And yet I want to read you a quote from the political journalist Roger Simon: "Many people miss the point about the haircuts. The point is not the cost. John Edwards is a very rich man and could afford even a $4,000 haircut. But why did he pay for his haircuts out of campaign funds?"

Senator?

Picking the president — the candidates Click a name below to visit that candidate’s MSNBC page • Joe Biden                 • Sam Brownback     • Hillary Clinton          • Chris Dodd • John Edwards         • Rudy Giuliani           • Mike Gravel              • Duncan Hunter • Mike Huckabee        • Dennis Kucinich     • John McCain           • Barack Obama • Ron Paul                    • Bill Richardson      • Mitt Romney            • Tom Tancredo • Fred Thompson To subscribe to a candidate page RSS feed, click here.

MORE FROM THE DEBATES

The debates Section Front

Final debate a lagging indicator of reality McCain goes on attack in final debate Analysis: McCain puts Obama on the defensive Fact check: Candidates again twist truth 'Plumber' says he has no plumbing license Fineman: McCain stock souring in New York? Can John McCain still win? Newsweek: Don't buy the "comeback" script Dan Rather has no kind words for the debates Schieffer to moderate last debate The debates Section Front   Add The debates headlines to your news reader: