COLUMBIA, S.C. 9 Democrats square off in debate in early campaign for White House

The candidates strove to distinguish themselves from one another in their first debate.
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) -- The nine Democrats vying for the White House clashed over the U.S.-led war against Iraq and the threat posed by Saddam Hussein on Saturday night in an ultra-early primary debate in which they hope to distinguish themselves from the pack.
The recent conflict -- and the divisions among the candidates over the war -- were evident in the opening questions. Asked about Howard Dean's argument that Saddam really wasn't much of a threat to the country, Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut took issue.
"Absolutely Saddam Hussein was a threat to the United States and most particularly to his neighbors," Lieberman said. "We did the right thing in fighting this fight."
But Al Sharpton argued that "we could have disarmed Hussein by working with the United Nations."
Sharpton and Carol Moseley Braun, the former Illinois senator, also focused on the expense of U.S. forces in Iraq and the reconstruction of the war-torn nation.
And Lieberman offered a warning to all the candidates hoping to unseat President Bush in 2004, an argument certain to be part of his campaign platform.
"No Democrat will be elected in 2004 who is not strong on defense," Lieberman said.
Strong competition
The debate came before most of the candidates have fully developed their positions for next year's election. But with no clear front-runner, there is intense rivalry for the nomination, even among the long shots.
"The way to move a donkey is to slap the donkey," Sharpton, warming up for the debate, told delegates at the state party convention Saturday afternoon. "I'm going to slap the donkey until the donkey kicks and we are going to kick George Bush out of the White House."
Democrats say Bush is vulnerable on the economy and repeatedly referred to growing unemployment and deficits during the weekend's activities in South Carolina.
"I'm running for president to put our economy back on a track that will put America back to work," Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry told the delegates. "The one person in America who does deserve to be laid off is George W. Bush."
Although they are united in their criticism of Bush's economic policies, the candidates have sparred over whether to repeal Bush's tax cuts, the best plan to provide health care for the uninsured and how to lead the military and build international relationships after the Iraq war.
Touts liberalism
"What's at stake here is the soul of the Democratic Party," said former Vermont Gov. Dean, one of the more liberal candidates who often criticizes his rivals for their support of Bush's policies. "We've just got to get the party to stand up and not be afraid of the poll ratings that the president's got."
While Dean often describes himself as representing "the Democratic wing of the Democratic Party," Florida Sen. Bob Graham told South Carolina Democratic Party delegates, "I represent the electable wing of the Democratic Party."
"I think it's going to take a combination of someone who is a centrist and someone who frankly can bring states in from the South," he told reporters.
No Democrat has carried South Carolina in a presidential race since Jimmy Carter of neighboring Georgia in 1976. Al Gore visited the state only once in 2000, but Graham and North Carolina Sen. John Edwards tout their Southern roots as an advantage that can help them beat Bush.
"I will not cede a single part of this country to George W. Bush," Edwards told the delegates. "I will campaign against him in North Carolina, in South Carolina. We will win Southern states."
Some honored boycott
Several of the candidates waded into the controversy of the Confederate flag flown on the Statehouse grounds by agreeing to honor the NAACP's economic boycott of the state during the debate trip. They slept and ate at the homes of supporters instead of patronizing restaurants and hotels. Protesters outside the party convention waved Confederate flags and signs that read, "Yankee go home."
The debate was the first chance for the candidates -- who also include Missouri Rep. Dick Gephardt and Ohio Rep. Dennis Kucinich -- to question one another in a televised forum.
The debate was sponsored by ABC News, but the network decided against live coverage, instead offering a telecast to its affiliate stations for broadcast after the event's conclusion.