Dems fault own party in pitch to leaders

VIENNA, Va. - Democratic presidential candidates faulted their own party as well as assailing Republicans as they pitched their candidacies to the staunchest of Democrats on Friday...

Richardson: "Look at the last twelve months. Not only are we still in Iraq, we still have the failure called No Child Left Behind. We still have 9 million children with no health insurance. We're still allowing this president to thumb his nose at the Bill of Rights. We're slipping into a recession," Richardson said. "And we can't even reject an attorney general who refuses to condemn torture."

Edwards: "The American people are on the outside," he said. "And on the other side, on the inside, are the powerful, the well-connected and the very wealthy. ... The truth is that it's not just Republicans who built this wall. Democrats helped."

Obama: Obama called for tossing out past electoral strategies to embrace independents and disaffected Republicans. Without mentioning front-runner Hillary Rodham Clinton's name, he suggested that if she were to win the nomination, Republicans would reprise the divisions of the 1990s.

"They're counting on the same bitter partisanship and the same electoral map that we've had for far too long," he said of the Republican Party.

Biden: "Before a Democrat can lead, he or she must get elected," he said. "We know the Republican playbook. They'll say we're weak. They'll play on people's fears, not their hopes. Ask yourself: Who do you want in the ring to take their best shots and then give it back, better, harder, and faster than they gave it?"

Edwards: "Too many politicians from both parties are choosing self-preservation over principle, compromise over convictions," Edwards said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071201/ap_on_el_pr/democrats_presidential_candidates_8

My view:
I wish Clinton had been there. I would like to hear what she had to say.
Obama definitely does not get it. Clueless.

Sounds like a lot of lip service from most of these guys.