Clinton in middle of Democrat rivals' crosshairs
DES MOINES -- New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to face intensified challenges from her chief rivals for the Iowa caucuses Sunday, as eight Democratic candidates meet in Des Moines for the first Iowa debate of the party 's 2008 campaign.
Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama are expected to portray themselves as the candidates better able than Clinton to deliver change to Washington, D.C., as the candidates showcase themes likely to define the fall campaign.
The debate, broadcast nationally as a special edition of ABC's This Week with George Stephanopoulos, comes as a summer of relentless campaigning in Iowa draws to a close without a clear favorite emerging in the leadoff caucus state.
Also scheduled to participate in the 90-minute debate at Drake University are Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd, former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson.
Edwards, who finished a strong second-place in the 2004 caucuses, is working to defend a lead in Iowa in addition to trying to chip away at Clinton's national position. Edwards has led the 2008 field in most Iowa polls of likely Democratic caucusgoers this year.
He signaled he would paint Clinton during the debate as too connected to Washington, D.C., in light of her campaign 's acceptance of financial contributions from interest groups and federal lobbyists.
"To bring about the change this country needs, we're going to have to take on entrenched interests in Washington, D.C.," Edwards said in a Des Moines Register interview last week. "I think it's the difference between real change and trading one group of insiders for another group of insiders."
The debate is a sort of milestone in a campaign already eight months underway. Candidates have already headlined hundreds of campaign events around the state and unprecedented television advertising.
It caps an intense two week period of presidential campaigning in Iowa that began with a Republican debate in Des Moines on Aug. 5 and included the state GOP's high-profile straw poll in Ames on Aug 11.
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