Clinton-Obama barbs dominate South Carolina debate

CNN: Clinton-Obama barbs dominate debate


Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama started arguing almost as soon as the debate began.

MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (CNN) -- Sharp confrontations over health care and other issues highlighted a debate among the Democratic presidential front-runners Monday night, with the sniping threatening to overshadow substance days before the South Carolina primary. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama engaged in particularly sharp exchanges....

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Just minutes into the debate, sponsored by CNN and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, Clinton and Obama -- who rank one and two in national polls -- started with the attacks. The exchanges saw the two interrupting each other and turning to direct their responses to each other instead of the panel of moderators.

"It is very difficult having a standup debate with you because you never take responsibility for any vote," Clinton said. She attacked Obama for not supporting a Senate amendment that would have capped the interest rate on credit cards at 30 percent. "It's just very difficult to get a straight answer." The comment drew boos from Obama supporters.

Obama attacked Clinton for working as "a corporate lawyer sitting on the board of Wal-Mart" while he was a community organizer. Clinton jabbed Obama for representing a "slumlord" when he was a lawyer in Chicago. The exchanges let Edwards, a South Carolina native, cast himself as the candidate more interested in policy discussions than political sniping.

"This kind of squabbling -- how many children is this going to get health care? How many people are going to get education because of this? How many kids are going to get to go to college because of this?" Edwards said to cheers from the crowd. "I respect both of my fellow candidates, but we have got to understand this is not about us personally."...

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/22/debate.main/index.html