Rivals contend that Clinton ducks hardballs

by Rick Pearson and John McCormick

EMMETSBURG, Iowa - Believing that Hillary Clinton's campaign has shifted from promoting its inevitability to defending its electability, rivals Barack Obama and John Edwards on Sunday contended the Democratic presidential front-runner is dodging hard questions and not giving specific answers to Iowa's voters.

But Clinton contended that she "probably answered 5,000 questions in the last 10 months" as she spoke to more than 300 people at a regional fundraiser for local Democrats in northwestern Iowa. It was her only reference to her opponents' criticisms as she delivered her basic campaign stump speech.

With an eye toward an accelerated election calendar and Iowa's Jan. 3 leadoff caucuses, the rhetoric and the battle among the contenders seeking to become Clinton's chief rival for the Democratic nomination has become sharper and more intense.

"It's now crunch time," New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson told the five-county Iowa fundraising audience. While Richardson said it was "critically important that Democrats not tear each other down, be positive," he also urged the room full of potential caucusgoers to judge his electability against that of the other contenders.

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On NBC's "Meet the Press," Obama said he believed a Clinton nomination would make it difficult for Democrats to capture the White House next year.

"I'm not somebody who believes she can't win," the Illinois Democrat said. "I believe that it's going to be harder for her to win because I think a lot of voters go in with some preconceptions about her that are going to be very difficult to overcome."

Obama suggested Clinton, a senator from New York, is dodging tough questions along the campaign trail, such as how she would reform Social Security.

"I think that what Sen. Clinton has been doing is running a textbook Washington campaign," he said. "What that says is that you don't answer directly tough questions, you don't present tough choices directly to the American people, for fear that your answers might not be popular, you might make yourself a target for the Republicans in the general election."

Obama also maintained that Clinton "hasn't given a firm timetable in terms of executing a withdrawal" of U.S. troops from Iraq. He said he would have all combat units out of Iraq within 16 months of the start of a redeployment.

Edwards, a former North Carolina senator, echoed Obama's criticism of Clinton during and after a speech on reforming what he called the "corrupt" culture of Washington at the Iowa Historical Building in Des Moines.

"She says she's for ending the war, but she'll continue combat missions in Iraq. She says she's for standing up to [President] Bush on Iraq and she votes with Bush on the Iranian Revolutionary Guard," Edwards told reporters. "I mean, I don't know."

Alluding to the controversy surrounding questions planted by her campaign staff at Clinton events, Edwards said voters in Iowa and New Hampshire deserve an answer to "hard questions and they expect it to be an honest process."

But Clinton largely tried to stay above the fray, except to note her accessibility to voters in Iowa and New Hampshire.

"I've had wonderful conversations with thousands of people," she told the audience in Emmetsburg. "I tried to add up the other day that I've probably answered 5,000 questions in the last 10 months. And I've had such a rewarding time being out and visiting and learning and listening."

She did not take questions at the event.

Clinton told the crowd to look at her record and experience.

"Everybody's going to come and tell you what they want to do and that's what we should be doing. We should be talking about what we will do when we're president and whether we can get it done," she said. But she said voters should be measured in evaluating those Democrats who promise a quick exit of U.S. military from Iraq.

"We have to do it the right way. We have to do it carefully," she said. "Withdrawing troops and equipment can be dangerous."

At the fundraiser, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware noted that his rivals suggest that he would "make a great secretary of state." But he told Iowans to consider the troubled international scene, look at the Democratic field and ask themselves "who among the others would you pick for secretary of state."

Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut, who also appeared in Emmetsburg, said it was important for the Democratic Party to look for the right candidate.

"We need to nominate a candidate that can unite the party," Dodd said. "I suspect we all want to get this right."