Democrats split on licenses for illegal immigrants

— -- Democratic candidates for president disagreed on whether illegal immigrants ought to be eligible for drivers licenses but took a break from the campaign¹s increasingly bitter tone at a forum in Des Moines aimed at issues of concern to minorities.

But the Iowa Brown and Black Presidential Forum, held at North High School and broadcast live on HDNet, also was marked by frequent technical problems and wisecracks by the candidates.

New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson were split on licensing illegal immigrants, an issue that tripped her up during a previous debate.

"You are asking the state, officials of the state, to in effect ratify someone who is not here legally,"said Clinton, who last month backed off her support of a measure to license illegal immigrants in New York.

Richardson, who supports licensing illegal immigrants, said his state enacted the measure "because of the failure in Congress."

But Clinton and Richardson also engaged in one of the event¹s many lighter moments when the candidates were allowed to question each other.

"Don¹t you think governors make good presidents?" Richardson asked, in a nod to President Bill Clinton, who was Arkansas governor before his 1992 election."Well, Bill, I also think they make good vice presidents," Clinton responded.

Also participating were Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd, former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and Illinois Sen. Barack Obama.

The two-hour event came as the race for the Jan. 3 caucuses approached its final month.

The three-way battle for the lead in Iowa has prompted a sharper tone between Clinton, the party¹s national frontrunner, and Edwards and Obama.

But the candidates were generally civil, despite a rowdy exchange between Biden and Kucinich about ending the war in Iraq, ending with Biden snorting, "give me a break."

Kucinich advocates immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq, while Biden has advocated keeping troops in northern Iraq.

The forum is the nation¹s oldest minority-focused presidential campaign forum. It was moderated by Michele Norris of National Public Radio and Ray Suarez of PBS Television.

The first 30 minutes were plagued with persistent microphone failures, prompting an awkwardly long break to fix the problem.

Obama, who is African-American, characterized Clinton¹s lead among Democratic voters who are black as a function of her overall lead in national polls.

"Nationally, Senator Clinton is very well known for wonderful public service she¹s rendered and her husband has rendered," said Obama, who has pulled narrowly ahead in Iowa, with Clinton and Edwards within reach. "My job in this race is to become better known."

The candidates agreed federal prison sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine offenses were excessive and disproportionately penalized minority defendants.Likewise, they said they supported allowing immigrants in the country illegally to earn citizenship through a series of steps, including learning English, paying fines and back taxes and passing criminal background checks.

Most of the candidates opposed normalizing relations with Cuba without human rights changes from the island Communist nation. Only Dodd and Kucinich said the U.S. policy was ill-advised.

"This embargo has done nothing but keep Castro in power," he said.The candidate-to-candidate questions were generally soft, with Edwards asking Obama if he supported a federal minimum wage of $9.50. "The answer is yes," Obama said,"and John has done good work on this."

Kucinich, who complained he was being ignored, asked himself a question.

Richardson, who is Latino, sparked laughter when he noted his ethnic heritage."Is there any chance we could have a little more civil rights equity and get the brown guy a little more time?" he asked.

Dodd, however, asked Edwards, who has made the fight against poverty the hallmark of his second presidential bid, why he voted for a 2001 bankruptcy bill that Dodd argued was punitive."I was wrong and you were right, Chris," Edwards said. "I think there were some good provisions in it, but when you look at it in the whole, it did some damage to low-income and middle-income families in this country."

It also capped a dramatic 36 hours for the Clinton campaign.First, a New Hampshire man held some of her staff in that early primary state hostage for several hours on Friday. Then, Saturday's ice storm in Iowa threatened to keep her from attending the forum. Clinton¹s plane landed in Des Moines roughly 30 minutes before the event.

"Seven-hour drive from Chicago, and I don't have a plane," Biden joked, as he took his seat 45 minutes into the program.

Former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel had planned to attend but the weather conditions kept him from arriving.All of the Republican candidates were invited, but none accepted.