Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama clashed over trade, health care and the war in Iraq in a crackling debate at close quarters one week before a pivotal number of primaries in the Democratic presidential race.
Charges of negative campaign tactics were high on the program, too, in Tuesday night's debate.
"Senator Obama has consistently said I would force people to have health care whether they can afford it or not," said Clinton, insisting it was not true.
PHOTO: EPA
Responding quickly, Obama said the former first lady had consistently claimed his plan "would leave 15 million people out ... I dispute that. I think it is inaccurate."
The tone was polite yet pointed, increasingly so as the 90-minute session wore on, a reflection of the stakes in a race in which Obama has won 11 straight primaries and caucuses and Clinton is in desperate need of a comeback.
Clinton also said as far as she knew her campaign had nothing to do with circulating a photograph of Obama wearing a white turban and a wraparound white robe presented to him by elders in Wajir, in Kenya, his father's homeland.
The gossip and news Web site The Drudge Report posted the photograph on Monday and said, without substantiation, that it was being circulated by "Clinton staffers."
"We have no evidence where it came from," Clinton said, making clear that's not the kind of behavior she wants in her campaign.
"I take Senator Clinton at her word that she knew nothing about the photo," Obama said.
The two rivals, the only survivors of a grueling primary season, sat about 30cm apart at a table on stage at Cleveland State University. It was the 20th debate of the campaign, 10 months to the day after the first.
Both Obama and Clinton were on the receiving end of pointed questions from Tim Russert of NBC News, one of two moderators for the event.
Asked whether he was waffling on his pledge of agreeing to take federal funds for the fall campaign, Obama said he was still contesting the primaries.
"If I am the nominee I will sit down with John McCain and make sure we come up with a system that is fair to both sides," he said.
The equivalent question to Clinton concerned the income tax returns that she and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, file jointly.
"I will release my tax returns," Clinton said, if she becomes the Democratic nominee, adding that she might do so "even earlier," but not before Tuesday's primary.
The rivals also debated the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico that is wildly unpopular with working-class workers whose votes are critical in any Democratic primary in Ohio.
Neither one said they were ready to withdraw from the pact, although both said they would use the threat of withdrawal to pressure Mexico to make changes.
On the war, both denounced US President George W. Bush's record on Iraq, then restated long-held disagreements over which of them was more opposed.
Obama also sought to distance himself from an endorsement from Nation of Islam Minister Louis Farrakhan, the Chicago-based controversial former leader of the black Muslim group who has made many anti-Semitic comments in the past.
Obama said he had not sought the endorsement, and that he had denounced the remarks.
Also see: Conservatives backing Obama? The times they are a-changin'
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number