Democrats battle in final debate before N.H. primary

MANCHESTER, N.H. -- Democratic presidential contenders attacked President Bush's handling of the economy and postwar Iraq on Thursday night in the final debate before the New Hampshire primary, each one adding he was best positioned to defeat the Republican incumbent. "I look forward to that fight," said Sen. John Kerry, winner of this week's Iowa caucuses and leader in the polls for Tuesday's first-in-the-nation primary as well.

In a debate far more civil than earlier encounters, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean trumpeted his record as a state budget balancer, while Sen. Joe Lieberman said Bush had recently identified him as the Democrat he was most worried about.

"I didn't get to the Senate by accident," said Sen. John Edwards, a North Carolinian who defeated a Republican incumbent to win his seat in 1998 and cited his support for gun rights.

Dean, who faded to a weak third-place finish in Iowa, sought to minimize any damage from a memorably long and loud post-caucus speech he made to supporters, while retired Gen. Wesley Clark strongly defended his Democratic credentials.

"I'm pro-choice, pro-affirmative action, pro-environment and pro-labor," he said. "I was either going to be the loneliest Republican in America or I was going to be a happy Democrat."

The two-hour debate was held five days before Democrats and willing independents cast ballots in the first primary of the nominating campaign.

The Iowa caucuses shook up the race dramatically, and the debate's opening moments suggested it had caused a reappraisal in debate strategy, as well. Several of the contenders passed up opportunities to criticize one another -- chances they might have leapt at in earlier encounters.

"This is a time to be affirmative. I'd say nice try," Lieberman told one questioner who had invited a critical comparison with other Democrats on stage.

Dean, trying to regain his footing in the race, made an exception at one point in the two-hour debate.

"Someone earlier made a remark about losing 500 soldiers and 2,200 wounded" in Iraq, he said. "Those soldiers were sent there by the vote of Sen. Lieberman, Sen. Edwards and Sen. Kerry. I think that is a serious matter," he said.

The three senators voted in favor of the congressional resolution authorizing Bush to use military force in Iraq. Dean opposed the war.

Polls taken of Iowa Democrats on caucus night showed they placed a higher priority on defeating Bush this fall, and each of the party's hopefuls on stage said they were in the best position to do so.

"I am a veteran, I fought in a war. I've been a prosecutor. I've sent people to jail for the rest of their life," said Kerry, who added that he has fought to control acid rain and pass welfare reform. He said he is a gun owner and hunter, and, "I look forward to standing up and holding George Bush accountable for pushing seniors off of Medicare into HMOs."

Kerry offered his answer in response to a question from a panelist who said the Republicans intend to target him on Friday.

Edwards, in his first Senate term, said he won his seat by defeating "an incumbent Republican senator who was part of the Jesse Helms political machine in North Carolina. ... I grew up in the rural South. I know deep inside what people care about," he added.

Dean cited his credentials -- balancing the budget in Vermont, extending health insurance across the state and providing prescription drug benefits for many seniors and disabled residents of his state. "Now what I want to do for this country is just expand what we did in Vermont," said the former governor.

Lieberman twice referred to Bush's reported assessment of the race.

"Republicans can't run their normal playbook on me," he said. "They can't say I flip-flop because I don't. They can't say I'm weak on defense because I'm not. They can't say I'm weak on values because I'm not."

Rep. Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton also rated spots on the debate stage at Saint Anselm College, but the hall was set with two fewer places than the last time the Democrats met.

Former Sen. Carol Moseley Braun dropped of the race out last week, endorsing Dean as she left. Rep. Dick Gephardt ended his candidacy on Tuesday after finishing a weak fourth in the kickoff Iowa caucuses.

Brit Hume of Fox News Channel and Peter Jennings of ABC News participated as moderators and questioners with John DiStaso, senior political reporter for The Union Leader of Manchester, N.H., and Tom Griffith, anchor at WMUR-TV. All four news organizations sponsored the event.

The Democrats claimed that Bush's policies have shortchanged the middle class and burdened troops called up by the thousands for overseas duty.

Kerry said he welcomed a debate with Bush in the general election over tax cuts, even if Republicans accuse the Democrat of voting to raise taxes and increase federal spending by billions.

"If President Bush wants to stand beside me and defend" cutting taxes on the wealthy "instead of giving all Americans health care and education so no child is truly left behind, that's a fight we deserve to have, that's a fight we will win," the Massachusetts senator said.

Dean renewed his call to repeal all of Bush's tax cuts, a position that places him apart from Kerry, Lieberman and Sen. John Edwards, all of whom want to retain cuts for the middle class.

As he has argued before, Dean said there was "no middle-class tax cut in this country. Somebody has got to stand up and say we can't have everything in this country. Somebody has got to tell the truth."