Rivals target Clinton in debate

PHILADELPHIA -- Hillary Rodham Clinton was the Democrats' target in chief Tuesday night as six rivals for her party's presidential nomination attacked her on issues ranging from foreign policy to immigration to her electability.

Clinton remained unrattled until the end, when she refused to be nailed down on whether she backs New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's proposal to provide driver's licenses to illegal immigrants. Gov. Bill Richardson jumped to her defense, protesting "this holier-than-thou attitude towards Sen. Clinton" as "close to a personal attack."

"This is where everybody plays 'gotcha,' " said Clinton, as questioners made attempts to clarify her position. At one point the New York senator said Spitzer's proposal "makes a lot of sense." But she also said: "I did not say it should be done."

Her chief rivals pounced, with former senator John Edwards calling it an example of the "double talk" he has accused Clinton of practicing on other issues. "I can't tell whether she's for it or against it," agreed Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

The lively debate also featured Sen. Joseph Biden's charge that Republican front-runner Rudy Giuliani is "absolutely unqualified" to be president, and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich's claim that he has seen a UFO.

But the evening was dominated by the intense barrage that Edwards and Obama launched against the Democratic front-runner.

The pounding grew so intense that Richardson protested "this holier-than-thou attitude" toward Clinton. He said it verged on "a personal attack."

The other candidates on the debate platform at Drexel University criticized Clinton's vote last month for a Senate resolution that labeled the Iran Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization.

Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut said President Bush could cite the vote to justify a military attack against Iran. Edwards said Clinton was allying herself with neoconservatives. The resolution passed on a 76-22 vote. Clinton was one of 26 Democrats who voted in favor, including Senate Democratic leaders Harry Reid of Nevada and Dick Durbin of Illinois.