Clinton, Obama Skirmish Over Cuba Policy, Health Care in Debate
Democratic presidential candidates
Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama skirmished over how to deal
with a new regime in Cuba and their approach to expanding health
insurance coverage during a debate last night in Texas.
Obama said he would meet with new Cuban leader Raul Castro
without preconditions, after making necessary preparations
to set an agenda.
Its important for the United States not just to talk to
its friends, but also to talk to its enemies, he said during
the forum at the University of Texas in Austin.
Clinton said Cubas leadership must first take steps such
as releasing political prisoners and opening the economy before
getting a meeting with the U.S. president.
I would not meet with him until there was evidence that
change was happening, she said.
Clinton, a New York senator, faces a must-win contest in
Texas on March 4, and some polls show the two candidates tied
among Democratic voters in the state. During last nights debate,
she sought to stall Obamas momentum in the nomination race by
stressing her experience. Obama, a senator from
Illinois, has emerged as the front-runner after winning 11
consecutive primaries or caucuses since Feb. 5.
The two returned repeatedly to the issue of health care. As
she does on the campaign trail, Clinton said that Obamas plan
leaves 15 million Americans out of the health-care system.
I dont want to leave anybody out, she said.
`Different Way
Obama, 46, responded that the suggestion that he doesnt
favor universal coverage is simply not true.
We think that theres going to be a different way of
getting there, Obama said.
One of the sharpest exchanges came when Obama was asked to
respond to accusations by Clintons campaign that he plagiarized
part of a Feb. 16 speech, using the words of Massachusetts
Governor Deval Patrick, one of his supporters.
In that speech, Obama was rebutting Clintons suggestion
that hes a gifted orator without substance. A few lines in his
address — Dont tell me words dont matter. `I have a dream.
Just words? — echoed remarks made in 2006 by Patrick.
Obama said last night that Patrick suggested that he use
the line and that plagiarism accusations mean the campaign is
getting into silly season by focusing on issues that voters
dont care about.
Clinton, 60, disagreed, saying, lifting whole passages
from someone elses speeches is not change you can believe in,
its change you can Xerox.
The line drew boos from some in the audience.
Iraq
Setting out another area of difference, Obama again brought
up his longtime opposition to the war in Iraq, saying Clinton
was wrong in her judgments on that. Clinton voted in 2002 to
give Bush the authority to go to war; she has since said he
abused that authority.
Obama called the vote the single most important foreign
policy decision of this generation. And he said his opposition
at the time, while he was still a state legislator, showed the
judgment of a commander-in-chief.
The debate sponsored by CNN, Univision and the Texas
Democratic Party otherwise was marked by civility. The two
candidates agreed on policies such as immigration and lauded
each others abilities and experiences.
`Honored
Clinton at the end told the audience that she was
absolutely honored to be sharing the stage with Obama.
The two candidates were also asked to describe moments that
tested them. Obama used the opportunity to talk about being
raised by a single mother, getting through rocky periods in
his youth and learning to bring people together as a community
organizer in Chicago.
Clinton, who stood by her husband, former President Bill
Clinton, during a sex scandal and his impeachment, drew laughter
from the audience when she said, well, I think everyone here
knows Ive lived through some crises and some challenging
moments in my life.
She said that anything shes lived through cant compare to
what many Americans face and described visiting wounded war
veterans. The hits Ive taken in life are nothing compared to
what goes on every single day in the lives of people across our
country, Clinton said.
Clinton is pushing Obama for more debates as they
generally have helped her candidacy over the last year. In
Texas, the two are in a dead heat, according to a ABC
News/Washington Post poll that found a quarter of respondents
are either undecided or may change their minds.
Along with Texas, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont are
holding primaries March 4.
Obama currently has the edge among pledged delegates
nationwide, with a total of 1,122.5 to Clintons 999.5,
according unofficial estimates by The Green Papers, a
nonpartisan Web site that tracks delegate allocation. That
doesnt include the 795 so-called superdelegates, Democratic
Party officials and office-holders who arent bound by election
results and have tilted toward Clinton. A candidate needs 2,025
votes at the party convention to become the nominee.
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