Dems Press Civility, But Spar on Iraq In First Forum

Feb. 21, 2007 — -- The first Democratic candidate forum of 2007 was a high-profile geographic reminder of the vast size of the 2008 presidential campaign battlefield.

It was also a symbolic reminder of just how intense the contests for the major party nominations have become, just less than a year away from the expected start of the voting in early 2008.

Clinton vs. Obama: Round One

That intensity was on full display as the campaigns of Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., traded barbs over controversial comments Obama supporter and media mogul David Geffen made to the New York Times.

"Not since the Vietnam War has there been this level of disappointment in the behavior of America throughout the world, and I don't think that another incredibly polarizing figure, no matter how smart she is and no matter how ambitious she is -- and God knows, is there anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton?" Geffen told the Times' Maureen Dowd.

Geffen helped former President Clinton raise almost $20 million before and during his presidency, and spent at least one night at the White House's fabled Lincoln Bedroom.

"Obama is inspirational, and he's not from the Bush royal family or the Clinton royal family," Geffen told Dowd.

Geffen also alluded to possible campaign distractions caused by Bill Clinton's personal life should his wife secure the Democratic nomination, saying, "Everybody in politics lies, but [the Clintons] do it with such ease, it's troubling."

After a day-long battle between the campaigns in which Clinton aide Howard Wolfson demanded that Obama remove Geffen from his campaign and return the money he had helped raise and the Obama campaign quickly retored, the Senator herself finally had an opportunity to respond.

In a throwback to the 1990s, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., lashed out against the "politics of personal destruction".

"I don't want to engage in the politics of personal destruction," said Clinton. "I think we should stay focused on what we're going to do for America. I think Bill Clinton was a good president. I am very proud of the record of his two terms."

Clinton would not say whether she--like her campaign spokesperson--personally believes that Obama should denounce Geffen's comments.

"I'm going to leave that up to the other campaign," said Clinton.

In what some people might view as an effort to highlight Obama's absence from today's forum, Clinton said, "I'm glad to be here in Carson City to be a part of this wonderful forum."

Clinton also dodged Stephanopoulos' question about whether candidates should be held responsible for statements made by their supporters.

Another Democratic contender, Governor Bill Richardson, D-N.M., did not back away from the controversy, calling on Obama to denounce Geffen's comments.

"If we're going to win, we have to be positive," Richardson stressed, later adding, "I think these name callings are no good."

The verbose Governor also called on all Democratic contenders to sign a pledge which would forbid negative campaigning, shortly before pointing out to the crowd that "governors actually do things," in a seemingly not-so-veiled swipe at several Congressional opponents.

Candidates Spar on Iraq

All the major Democratic candidates but one were gathered in Carson City, at an event sponsored by a branch of one of the party's dominant interest groups -- labor unions -- the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.

Moderated by George Stephanopoulos of ABC News and available live on ABC News Now, the event kicked off what is expected to be a series of joint appearances and debates with the candidates of both parties.

These high-profile face-offs give the campaigns a chance to rally supporters. For the underdogs, they are a chance to try to bring down the front-runners a peg or two.

In one such moment, Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., claimed, "It was a mistake, in my view, to vote the way we did in that resolution," referring to his 2002 vote in favor of the resolution which led to war in Iraq.

Dodd demurred, however, when asked whether or not Clinton should apologize for her vote, insisting he will allow the senator to answer that question for herself.

Dodd, who mentioned that he's both a first time presidential candidate and recent father, joked, "I'm probably the only candidate here that gets mail from AARP and diaper services," much to the delight of the crowd, whom he also invited to his presidential inauguration.

In a blatant jab at his rivals for the 2008 Democratic nomination serving in U.S. Senate, former Gov. Tom Vilsack, D-Iowa, said he wanted to ask everyone at the first forum gathering White House candidates, "What have you done today to end the war in Iraq?"

Vilsack continued to aggressively engage Sens. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., on the plans to end the war in Iraq.

Clinton has called for troops to be capped at the levels that they were in in January to begin a phased withdraw while Obama has called for U.S. combat troops to be removed by the end of March 2008.

Vilsack said it is a "moral responsibility" for members of Congress who are opposed to President Bush's troop increase use their constitutional authority to end the war.

Similarly, former Senator John Edwards, D-N.C., set to distinguish himself from Clinton, first by boasting that he was the first candidate to come out with a "truly substantive health care plan," and contrasting his timetable for such a plan's implementation with Clinton's -- which she said she hoped to have in place by the end of her second term -- saying, "I want to start putting universal health care in place as soon as I am sworn in."

Edwards then used the example of President Bush to take a rhetorical swipe at Clinton, asserting that "after six years of a president who will take no responsibility for what he's done" and "incapable of admitting he was wrong, incapable of admitting that he has made a mistake," the country now needs "someone who will take responsibility for their mistake."

When asked by the event's moderator, ABC News' George Stephanopoulos, if his current position in Iraq did not, in itself, constitute political calculation, Edwards said that he would leave it to the voters to judge him, and that it was important for his campaign to "stand on a foundation of truth."

"I should never have given George Bush the authority I gave him in 2002," said Edwards.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, who voted against the Iraq war resolution in Congress, point out that he was not "fooled" by President Bush.

For the candidates not participating in the Democrats' Carson City event, the day was full of increasingly typical coast-to-coast campaigning.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., participated in an Iowa town hall meeting, bookended by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., on the West Coast, appearing with Republican California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a midday news conference and aerial tour to highlight California's efforts to reduce global warming, and by the former New York City Republican Mayor Rudy Giuliani, holding his own town hall meeting with first responders in North Spartanburg, S.C., on the East Coast.

It is already a virtual political arms race, with the candidates warily watching one another, trying to gain every advantage.

The trick is to get the so-called virtuous cycle rolling, where positive news coverage leads to higher poll numbers, which leads to better fundraising totals, which leads to more positive news coverage, and on and on and on.