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Foreign policy dominates Democrats’ radio debate

From left, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and other Democratic presidential hopefuls wait for the start of the National Public Radio debate Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Rick Montgomery McClatchy
From left, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., and other Democratic presidential hopefuls wait for the start of the National Public Radio debate Tuesday in Des Moines, Iowa. Associated Press (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

DES MOINES, Iowa – In a two-hour debate away from video cameras, Democratic presidential candidates took a break Tuesday from picking on one another and piled on President Bush’s foreign policy.

The radio-only exchange sponsored by National Public Radio/Iowa Public Radio limited discussion points to Iran, China and illegal immigration – three topics on which the seven Democrats voiced similar broad views.

On Iran, the candidates faulted the president for favoring “saber rattling” over direct diplomacy in the wake of intelligence reports indicating the country in 2003 halted its nuclear weapons program.

Bush “should seize this opportunity and engage in serious diplomacy, using both carrots and sticks” to limit Iran’s threat to the region, said Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York.

Some of her party challengers, including John Edwards, running a close third in Iowa polls, criticized Clinton for recently backing a congressional resolution designating the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization capable of spreading weapons of mass destruction.

“There’s only one of us who voted for this resolution, and it’s exactly what Bush and (Vice President Dick) Cheney wanted,” said Edwards.

For her part, Clinton said: “None of us is advocating a rush to war (with Iran). Our goals are the same: diplomatic engagement.”

In recent days, she has stepped up attacks on Barack Obama as a “talker” rather than a “doer.” In the radio debate, however, she barely took a swing at the senator, who has inched to the top of many Iowa preference polls.

Obama, of Illinois, joined Sens. Joe Biden of Delaware and Chris Dodd of Connecticut in calling for the U.S. to use existing trade rules and diplomatic pressure to raise China’s labor standards and eliminate dangerous toys.

“If France was doing what China’s doing, we’d be tough with them,” Biden said.

Illegal immigration stirred additional agreement. Asked whether U.S. citizens had a duty to turn undocumented workers over to authorities, the Democrats said legal pressure should instead be brought to bear on employers paying substandard wages.

Rep. Dennis Kucinich of Ohio and former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel also participated in the debate.

National Public Radio said it also invited Republican presidential candidates to debate this week, but their schedules could not be worked out.