Democrats face off in high-stakes debate

[rodeodance]

Forum Name Politics/Campaigns
Topic subject Democrats face off in high-stakes debate: Obama, Clinton blame aides, surrogates for controversy
Topic URL http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=108x125293#125293
125293, Democrats face off in high-stakes debate: Obama, Clinton blame aides, surrogates for controversy
Posted by DeepModem Mom on Wed Jan-16-08 09:58 AM

CNN/AP: Democrats face off in high-stakes debate


Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards faced off in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Tuesday.

LAS VEGAS, Nevada (AP) -- Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama blamed aides and campaign surrogates Tuesday night for fueling a campaign controversy over race, jointly pledging at a debate on the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. to put the matter behind them.

Obama said "not only in hindsight, but going forward," he regretted that his staff had prodded reporters to pursue the issue. "Our supporters, our staff, get overzealous. They start saying things that I would not say," added the most viable black candidate in history.

"We both have exuberant and sometimes uncontrollable supporters," Clinton said in the opening moments of a two-hour round-table debate televised on MSNBC. "We need to get this campaign where it should be," said the former first lady, seeking to become the first woman to occupy the White House. She said comments by black businessman Robert Johnson over the weekend were inappropriate, but sidestepped when asked whether she would bar him from playing a role in her campaign. Johnson made an evident reference to Obama's youthful drug use -- although he denied that was his intent.

Clinton, Obama and former Sen. John Edwards, the only white man among the candidates on stage, settled in for their debate as the former first lady won a meaningless Michigan presidential primary, a contest held in violation of party rules.

The debate unfolded four days before the party-sanctioned Nevada caucuses, and the tone was surprisingly cordial given the recent race-related controversy and the stakes involved in the wide-open race for the party's presidential nomination....

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/15/democrat.debate.ap/index.html