Dems Take on Issues and Each Other in Iowa

DES MOINES, Iowa, Aug. 19, 2007 — -- The crowd here at Drake University had all the enthusiasm of a tailgate before the big game. By 7 a.m., supporters lined the streets leading up to the debate hall. Several Barack Obama supporters did a pom pom dance. "Barack Obama all the way," they chanted, as they performed a hip hop dance.

The players did not disappoint them.

Moderator George Stephanopoulos pushed the candidates to clarify two major perception problems for frontrunners Obama and Hillary Clinton.

"The first one," said Stephanopoulos, "is Barack Obama ready to be president? Is he experienced enough to be president?"

Obama listened patiently as his rivals pored over recent statements he has made on foreign policy issues -- that he'd be willing to sit down with Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro without any preconditions; that he'd pursue high value targets from al Qaeda in Pakistan if President Musharaf is unwilling or unable to do so.

Several hinted strongly he's not experienced enough.

"You're not going to have time in January of '09 to get ready for this job," said Sen. Chris Dodd. "You've got to be ready immediately for it."

Stephanopoulos asked Sen. Joe Biden point blank if he agrees with that sentiment — a view he has expressed in similar terms before.

"I think I stand by the statement," said Biden, appearing a little embarrassed.

Obama was clearly prepared for the onslaught. "To prepare for this debate, I rode the bumper cars at the state fair, and it worked terrifically," he joked.

Obama deftly turned the experience question against Clinton as he argued for change from what he calls the "failed politics of Washington."

He said, "Nobody had more experience than Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, and many of the people on this stage that authorized the war."

The jab was obviously intended for Clinton.

Clinton's Achilles heel seems to be the perception she is too polarizing a figure to win a national election. She was asked to address a recent attack, leveled by outgoing White House political guru Karl Rove, that a Clinton candidacy is the Republican Party's best hope of keeping the White House.