Democrats play nice on race, spar over war

With accusations of racial insensitivity flying, Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton worked hard Tuesday evening to smooth over any civil rights differences during an MSNBC Democratic presidential debate that gave former Sen. John Edwards an opening to lob potshots at the front-runners on the economy, nuclear power and the war in Iraq.

The debate in Las Vegas, which was televised by MSNBC and streamed live on msnbc.com , took place without Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio, who lost a last-minute court battle after attorneys for NBC Universal persuaded the Nevada Supreme Court to uphold its decision to block him from the debate. 

(Msnbc.com is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC Universal.)

Instead, only the three leading candidates — Clinton, of New York; Obama, of Illinois; and Edwards, of North Carolina — fielded questions from the moderators, Brian Williams, Tim Russert and Natalie Morales of NBC News.

The question of race came up immediately on the birthday of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., whose legacy was part of a clash between the Clinton and Obama campaigns over the past week. But both candidates, who issued conciliatory statements Tuesday, sought to further smooth the waters, saying they respected each other’s commitment to civil rights.

Edwards seizes an opening
The front-runners’ determination to bury the hatchet gave Edwards an opening to further raise his profile after stronger-than-expected showings in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary.

When Russert turned the discussion to the war in Iraq, Edwards noted that Obama and Clinton were voicing similar ideas about when and how to pull U.S. troops out of combat. He said his commitment to a U.S. withdrawal was stronger.

“I think there are real differences here, and they’re not subtle,” Edwards said, vowing to “have all combat troops out in the first year that I’m president of the United States.”

“I will end combat missions,” he said. “And while I'm president, there will be no permanent military bases in Iraq.”

While Clinton and Obama objected that their positions were largely the same as Edwards’, the exchange allowed him to go on the offensive and steal some of the intense focus from the front-runners.

Likewise, when taking his chance to question his rivals, Edwards pointedly mentioned the huge sums of money both Clinton and Obama have raised from drug and insurance companies, asking, “Do you think these people expect something, or are they just interested in good government?”

‘Race has always been an issue’
Most of the pre-debate buzz surrounded the accusations traded by supporters of Obama and Clinton over race. Obama backers accused Clinton of slighting King’s achievements, while Clinton supporters claimed that the Obama camp was twisting her words for political advantage among black voters.

“We both sometimes have exuberant and uncontrollable supporters,” Clinton said. “... I think it’s appropriate on Dr. King’s birthday to recognize that all of us are here as a result of what he did.”

Obama echoed the sentiment.

“Race has always been an issue in politics in this country, but one of the premises of my campaign ... is that we can’t solve these challenges unless we can come together as a people and not fall into the same traps as we have in the past,” he said.

Asked whether he regretted that his campaign was pushing the story of racial divisiveness, Obama replied, “Not only in hindsight, but going forward.”

For her part, Clinton sidestepped when asked whether she would ban businessman Robert Johnson from a role in her campaign. Johnson made an evident reference to Obama’s youthful drug use in a weekend appearance, although he denied that was his intent.

Still, asked whether Johnson’s comments were inappropriate, she replied, “Yes, they were.”

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