Democrats Distance Themselves From Race Talk

Sen. Hillary Clinton extended an olive branch Tuesday night to her two main Democratic opponents and they took it. On matters of race at least. Clinton said that she and her fellow candidates are "all family." Sen. Barack Obama returned her gesture, acknowledging that she and former Sen. John Edwards are committed to racial equality.

Obama and Clinton also shifted some of the blame for the past week's sometimes harsh exchanges over race to "exuberance and sometimes uncontrollable supporters" who say things the candidates themselves do not believe.

But that's were the warm fuzzies stopped.

Obama and Clinton offered widely divergent views of the presidency. Clinton said America needed a leader who knew how the system works, while Obama said he felt a president needed to have a vision of where the country needed to go and wasn't just there to make sure that "the paperwork is being shuffled effectively."

Sharp differences also emerged over the issue of energy. All three candidates said they did not think that Yucca Mountain in Nevada should have a nuclear waste facility. But Clinton challenged Obama on the point, saying that he has accepted sizeable campaign contributions from Exelon Corp., "which has spent millions trying to make Yucca Mountain the waste depository." But Obama retorted that he has never support the Yucca project.

And when they discussed energy and the 2005 energy bill, Edwards turned the tables on Clinton, saying that she has accepted "more money from those people [oil and gas companies] than any candidate, Democrat or Republican."

Through the evening debate, Edwards worked to differentiate himself from the other two candidates, saying that his position on Iraq and the need to withdraw America troops was stronger than theirs. He also pointed to the money the two candidates have raised from drug and insurance companies and pointedly asked them, "Do you think these people expect something, or are they just interested in good government?"

As as NPR's Ina Jaffe reports, another interesting moment came when moderator Brian Williams of NBC asked Obama about Internet rumors that he is a "secret Muslim," said his oath of office on a Koran and won't say the pledged of allegiance.

Obama chuckled as he listened and then said, "let's make clear what the facts are. I am a Christian, I have been sworn in with a bible, I pledge allegiance and lead the pledge of allegiance sometimes in the United States Senate when I've presided."

He called the rumors "lies" and said, "The American people are, I think, smarter than folks give them credit for. "

5:25 AM ET | 01-16-2008 | permalink