In Nevada, Democratic 2008 hopefuls spar on Iraq war

By Willie Albright

CARSON CITY, Nevada (Reuters) - Eight Democratic presidential contenders sparred gently on Wednesday on how to end the Iraq war, and Hillary Rodham Clinton decried "the politics of personal destruction" during the first joint appearance of an already heated 2008 campaign.

At a union-sponsored forum for Democratic White House hopefuls in Nevada, Clinton again sidestepped a question about why she will not call her 2002 Senate vote authorizing the war a mistake, but said "I have taken responsibility for my vote."

Rival John Edwards, a former senator who also voted to authorize the war but has called that a mistake, did not name Clinton but drew an indirect comparison between her stance and President George W. Bush's reluctance to admit mistakes in Iraq.

"We've had ... six years of a president who is incapable of admitting that he was wrong, incapable of admitting that he's made a mistake. It's time for a different kind of leadership in this country," Edwards said.

"We need a leader who will be open and honest with you and with the American people, who will tell the truth, who will tell the truth when they've made a mistake."

Clinton, a New York senator who leads the Democratic field in early national polls, has been criticized for her failure to renounce her 2002 vote although she now harshly condemns the war and has promised to end it immediately if she is elected.

The forum, sponsored by the nation's largest public employees union, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, was attended by all Democratic presidential hopefuls except Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, who campaigned in Iowa instead.

It came as the Clinton and Obama camps traded shots over criticism aimed at her and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, by Obama donor David Geffen, a Hollywood mogul.

Geffen was quoted as describing Clinton as overly ambitious and polarizing, and the former president self-destructive. Clinton aides asked Obama to disavow the comments, and the Obama campaign declined.

Clinton was asked about the dispute by forum host George Stephanopoulos of ABC News, but declined to confront Obama directly.

"I want to run a very positive campaign, I sure don't want Democrats or the supporters of Democrats to be engaging in the politics of personal destruction," she said, a phrase used by her husband to describe his political enemies as he battled impeachment in 1998.

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson sided with Clinton, saying Obama should disavow the comments and calling on all Democrats to sign a pledge to avoid negative campaigning.

"If we're going to win, we have to be positive," Richardson said. "These name-callings are not good."

The forum was the first of many planned joint "cattle calls" for the Democratic hopefuls. The candidates appeared on stage separately and did not interact with each other, taking three questions and offering timed opening and closing statements.

Several Democrats criticized the failure of Congress to take concrete steps to end the unpopular war after disgruntled voters swept them into power in November's elections.