Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) thanks supporters at Murphy's Tap Room in downtown Manchester following the debate. Many of Obama's staff and volunteers had gathered at the bar to watch the debate. 
Former Sen. Mike Gravel (Alaska) takes a question from the French media (in French) in the spin room after the debate. With eight months to go before the New Hampshire primary, Gravel is trailing far behind his counterparts but claims to be making headway that polls cannot show. Will NunnallyMANCHESTER, N.H. — Withdrawing troops from Iraq was the most heated issue among the eight Democratic candidates running for president Sunday night as they sought to separate themselves from the pack at Saint Anselm College in the earliest televised debate in New Hampshire primary history.
In their second Democratic debate since April, the candidates were defensive and quicker to disagree with their counterparts, with some questioning their decisions to vote for the war and others arguing about continued funding. They also attacked each other for their plans for universal healthcare, immigration reform and rising gas prices.
CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer and Tom Fahey from the Union Leader moderated the first part of the two-hour debate, while New Hampshire residents — ranging from a school teacher to a former hair salon owner — pushed more questions later about troop deployment and the possibility of a mandatory draft. Stressing brevity, Blitzer repeatedly interrupted candidates in their responses if they strayed just slightly from a question.
Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.) and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) answered differently about not reading a national intelligence report before voting to approve the Iraq war — Clinton said she was completely briefed, while Edwards openly apologized for his vote and commended Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.) for his steadfast decision to oppose the war from the beginning.
Former Sen. Mike Gravel (Alaska) criticized their responses, saying honesty should be a moral criterion for the next president.
“More Americans died because of their decision,” he said. “That disqualifies them for president. It doesn’t mean they’re bad people. It just means they don’t have moral judgment.”
Most of the questions were directed at early frontrunners Clinton, Edwards and Obama, though other candidates gained some spotlight as they criticized each other for their policies.
Dodd, labeling the ongoing violence in Iraq a civil war, said the Bush administration’s war policy has failed, and Democrats need to set a timetable to leave.
“It’s very, very important, so that we have the ability to move beyond this,” he said.
Several of the candidates differed on their healthcare plans and argued whether it is possible to have universal healthcare without increasing taxes in the process.
“I believe you cannot cover everybody in America, create a more efficient healthcare system. . . . I don’t think you can do all those things for nothing,” Edwards said. “That’s not the truth.”
Obama, who recently proposed a healthcare plan, responded by stating it was one of the main points where he and Edwards disagree.
“Most families want healthcare, but they can’t afford it,” he said. “So my emphasis is on driving down the costs, taking on the insurance companies, making sure that they are limited in the ability to extract profits and deny coverage.”
The candidates were also asked what influence former President Bill Clinton — the last Democrat in the Oval Office since President Carter’s administration — would have during their term.
Sen. Clinton, when asked about her husband’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on gays in the military, said she would eliminate it, calling it a “compromise policy” that had been used in a “discriminatory” way.
Sen. Joseph Biden (Del.) compared the military policies of Britain and France and said there is no discussion about their troops’ sexual orientation.
“I don’t know the last time an American soldier said to a backup from a Brit, ‘Hey, by the way, let me check, are you gay, you straight?’” he said. “This is ridiculous.”
After the debates, candidates such as Gov. Bill Richardson (N.M.) spoke about the debate’s significance, and Richardson said he was pleased with his stronger performance in the second portion of the debate, in which he spoke about his plans to focus on education and increase teachers’ wages.
“Those were my best moments,” he said in the spin room. “I was pleased. I’m going to move up after this debate.”
Several of the candidates agreed afterward they were not allotted sufficient time to answer questions thoroughly or at all. Gravel criticized the debate’s format and challenged organizers to host a more realistic forum.
“It’s a beauty contest,” he said in the spin room. “They all stand up, they ask questions and they answer, and of course the moderator looks good, Edwards looks good. But we’re sitting up there like . . . do you want to find out what’s going on? Head-on-head.”
Across the room, Biden said an ideal situation for debate would be devoting 90 minutes to thoroughly discuss one issue.
“The problem that I had with the format, to the extent I had one, was that you didn’t get an opportunity to answer as many questions,” he said. “If you look at the numbers, so I’m told, you’ll see it’s three and four to one. Some candidates got to answer questions versus others not.
“But this is a process,” Biden continued. “This is a marathon, this is mile post two.”
The 10 Republican candidates will have an identical debate format at the college Tuesday night.
