The Democratic presidential hopefuls focused their criticism on President George W. Bush on Thursday, treading carefully with each other and touting their ability to win in November in a polite final debate before next week's crucial New Hampshire primary.
With their battle to find a challenger to Bush turned upside down by the results in Iowa, the Democrats condemned the president's economic and foreign policy leadership and plugged their recipes for a Democratic election victory.
PHOTO: AP
"This country is being led in a radically wrong direction by this president," said John Kerry, the Iowa winner who surged into a lead in New Hampshire polls ahead of Tuesday's primary.
"I look forward to standing up and holding George Bush accountable," Kerry said. "The workplace of America has never been as unfair for the average American as it is today."
The Democrats, mindful that negative exchanges in Iowa between Dean and Missouri Rep-resentative Richard Gephardt had backfired on both, responded cautiously even when pressed to criticize each other.
"This is a time to be affirm-ative," said Connecticut Senator Joseph Lieberman, who is mired in fifth place in New Hampshire polls. "We're making our closing arguments to the people of New Hampshire. I'm going to talk about myself."
Howard Dean, the one-time front-runner trying to overcome his dismal showing in Iowa and the fallout from a screaming concession speech that raised doubts about his temperament, joked about his hoarse voice early in the debate.
"It's not because I was whooping and hollering at my third-place finish in Iowa, it's because I have a cold," Dean said.
Needing to halt his slide and regain the early momentum that put him ahead of the pack last year, Dean emphasized his experience as governor of Vermont during the debate and stuck to his basic campaign themes during a low-key performance.
He did criticize his rivals on the Iraq war, touting his judgment in opposing it and blasting votes by Kerry, Lieberman and North Carolina Senator John Edwards to support a congressional resolution authorizing the war.
Noting that about 500 Americans had been killed in Iraq, he said "those soldiers were sent there by the vote of Senator Lieberman and Senator Kerry and Senator Edwards. That is a fact."
Polls show Kerry, a senator from Massachusetts, sailing past Dean in New Hampshire since his Iowa win after trailing him in the state by more than 20 percentage points late last year.
Edwards, the freshman senator who finished a surprise second in Iowa and is trying to build on that momentum in New Hampshire, disputed assertions that he does not have enough experience to be president.
"I'm someone who has been in Washington long enough to see what's wrong with it and how it should be changed," he said.
"We need to spend more time talking about the issues than talking about ourselves," he said.
Each of the candidates made a case for their ability to beat Bush, a topic polls show is a prime concern for Democratic voters. Retired General Wesley Clark rejected charges he is a closet Republican because he voted for Republican presidents Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan.
"I'm a Democrat of conviction," said Clark, the former NATO commander who has risen in the polls in New Hampshire and is trying to challenge Kerry for the votes of the state's large population of veterans.
Kerry, a decorated Vietnam veteran who opposed the war on his return to the US, defended his opposition and said his experiences would give him greater authority as commander-in-chief.
"I will never conduct a war or start a war because we want to," he said. "The United States will only go to war because we have to."
Lieberman said Democrats should not let Republicans claim the high ground on social values. Dean said he supported a balanced budget, opposed new federal gun control laws and could reach out to voters who have not supported Democrats in the past.
"The future health of this country depends on a balanced budget, and we've got to start telling the truth and stop making promises," Dean said. "We have got to talk about education, jobs and health care."
After the debate, ABC aired an interview with Dean and his wife, Judy, who made her first appearance on the campaign trail in Iowa on Sunday, where Dean acknowledged his concession speech might not have been appropriate.
"I would not make the case for a moment that it was presidential," Dean said of his concession scream.
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