Democrats play nice on race, spar over war

Michigan primary vies for attention
Obama, winner of the Iowa caucuses; Clinton, winner of the New Hampshire primary; and Edwards were competing for attention with the results of Tuesday’s Republican primary in Michigan, where the polls closed an hour before their debate got under way at 9 p.m. ET.

The Democratic primary in Michigan promised little or nothing of consequence after state party officials insisted on holding it earlier than the Democratic National Committee wanted, with the result that no delegates were to be awarded. NBC News projected that Clinton would receive the most votes; a significant number of voters also chose “uncommitted.”

But the Republican voting was watched closely, as former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney edged Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee came in third.

The courts also figured in a second case in Nevada, where a few of Clinton’s supporters sought to force a change in the ground rules for the state’s caucuses Saturday.

Their objective was to prevent several caucuses along the Las Vegas strip, where thousands of Culinary Workers Union employees — many of them Hispanic or black — hold jobs.

The rules were approved in March, when Clinton was the overwhelming national front-runner in the race. But the union voted to endorse Obama last week, and the lawsuit followed.

Plenty of agreement on the stage
The tenor of the debate itself, however, belied the rancor between the two campaigns.

At one point, Obama rejected a suggestion that race played a part in his surprise loss to Clinton in New Hampshire, saying he trailed because “Senator Clinton ran a terrific campaign.”

For her part, Clinton said she had “the highest regard for both Senator Obama and Senator Edwards.”

“I’ve worked with them. I have, you know, supported them in their previous runs for office. There’s no doubt that when we have a nominee, we’re going to have a totally unified Democratic Party.”

Indeed, the biggest disagreement came over a local issue: the Energy Department’s longstanding plan to store radioactive waste at the Yucca Mountain Repository in Nevada.

Clinton accused Obama of backing federal funding for Exelon Corp., which is based in Obama’s state, Illinois, and is a significant contributor to his campaign.

Obama responded that he nonetheless opposed the Yucca Mountain plans. Edwards, meanwhile, used the discussion to turn the debate toward nuclear power, which he claimed he was alone on the stage in opposing completely.

“I’ve heard Senator Obama say he’s open to the possibility of additional nuclear power plants.  Senator Clinton said at a debate earlier, standing beside me, that she was agnostic on the subject,” said Edwards, who acknowledged that early in his Senate career he supported the Yucca Mountain plan but had changed his mind in light of “new evidence.”

“I am not for it or agnostic. I am against building more nuclear power plants, because I do not think we have a safe way to dispose of the waste,” he said. I think they’re dangerous, they’re great terrorist targets, and they’re extraordinarily expensive.”

Obama disagreed.

“What I have said is that if we could figure out a way to provide a cost-efficient, safe way to produce nuclear energy, and we knew how to store it effectively, then we should pursue it because what we don’t want is to produce more greenhouse gases,” he said.

Picking the president: The candidates Click to visit that candidate's MSNBC page or click the XML symbol for an RSS feed. John McCain                Barack Obama

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