Tuesday, December 04, 2007

"Clinton, Obama, Edwards Skirmish Over Iran Vote"

Bloomberg:
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton defended her vote in favor of declaring the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist organization amid criticism from her rivals today in an Iowa debate.
``We have a real division here,'' former North Carolina Senator John Edwards said. ``Among the Democratic candidates, there's only one that voted for that resolution.'' Clinton, 60, said the vote helped change Iran's behavior in Iraq and that she wasn't ``advocating a rush to war.''

The first of three topics of the forum in Des Moines, sponsored by National Public Radio and Iowa Public Radio, was the U.S. intelligence assessment released yesterday that concluded Iran halted its nuclear weapons development program in 2003. The report has prompted a fresh round of criticism by Democrats of President George W. Bush's stance that Iran is a growing threat to the U.S. and its allies.

The non-binding resolution urging the Bush administration to declare the arm of Iran's military a terrorist organization was supported by the president. It passed 76-22 in September and Clinton was one of 29 Democrats to vote for it. Democratic presidential candidates Joseph Biden, 65, a senator from Delaware, and Christopher Dodd, 63, a senator from Connecticut, voted against it. Barack Obama, 46, who missed the vote, said he would have voted against it as well.

Clinton's rivals accused her of failing to stand up to Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. ``This saber rattling was a repetition of Iraq,'' Obama said.

More Diplomacy

While the subject prompted sparring among Clinton, Obama and Edwards, the main target of attacks was Bush.

``It is absolutely clear that this administration and President Bush continues to not let facts get in the way of his ideology,'' said Obama, an Illinois senator.

Biden said Bush's rhetoric on Iran is ``like watching a rerun of his statements on Iraq five years earlier.''

Clinton said that in the wake of the new intelligence assessment, Bush should ``seize this opportunity and engage in serious diplomacy.'' She said she ``vehemently'' disagreed with Bush's statement at a news conference earlier today that the report didn't necessitate a change in policy.

Trade with China

On the debate's second major topic, the Democrats said they would adopt a tougher stance toward China regarding its trade practices than the Bush administration has.

Obama, Edwards and Biden said they would not allow toys made in China to enter the U.S. until questions about the safety of some products is resolved. ``China will modify its behavior if we are tough in our negotiations,'' Obama said.

Obama acknowledged that imposing more rigorous safety, labor and environmental standards would ``probably'' increase the prices of Chinese imports ``on the front end.''

Clinton called for tougher standards ``across the board,'' including issuing recalls on products tainted with lead or other defects. ``This administration has basically defanged the Consumer Product Safety Commission,'' she said.

The candidates also were asked a series of questions about immigration. They agreed that Americans should not be expected to turn in illegal immigrants and that employers should be held accountable for hiring undocumented workers.

``We do not deputize the American people to do the job that the federal government is supposed to do,'' Obama said. ``I will make sure that the federal government does what it's supposed to do, which is to do a better job of closing our borders.''

`Dangerous Politics'

Dodd said that some Republicans are using scare tactics in discussing immigration and that is crowding out debate on Iraq and domestic concerns such as health care. ``It's dangerous politics,'' he said.

Clinton said she agreed.

``If we want to listen to the demagogues and the calls for us to begin to try to round up people and turn every American into a suspicious vigilante, I think we will do graver harm to the fabric of our nation than any kind of person-by-person reporting of someone who might be here illegally,'' she said.

With less than a month before the Iowa Caucus, the top three candidates are ratcheting up their attacks on one another.

Clinton at a press conference this week said it was time to draw contrasts between her and Obama and that ``there's a big difference between our courage and our convictions.'' Obama's campaign responded in a statement that Clinton ``followed George Bush to war in Iraq.''

A Des Moines register poll published Dec. 2 showed Obama and Clinton statistically tied, with the Illinois senator holding an edge. Obama received support from 28 percent of likely Democratic caucus-goers, while Clinton fell to second place with 25 percent. Edwards, 54, was third with 23 percent.
Howie P.S.: Reuters has "Democrats talk Iran, diplomacy at NPR debate."

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