Democrats hold final pre-caucus debate

JOHNSTON, Iowa – The Democratic presidential candidates made nice for the television cameras during a polite debate Thursday – while the two top candidates dealt offstage with the latest fallout from their close contest for the nomination.

The 90-minute debate was the last chance for the six major candidates to face one another before voting starts in Iowa on Jan. 3.

With three candidates neck and neck and neck for first place in the state – Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois and former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina – none dared personally attack a rival for fear of a backlash from Iowa voters.

Off camera the campaigns continued to wrestle, as Clinton’s campaign looked for ways to slow Obama’s momentum, which has washed away Clinton’s narrow lead in Iowa and her larger lead in New Hampshire.

A day after Clinton’s national campaign co-chairman called attention to Obama’s admitted use of illegal drugs as a teen, Clinton apologized to her Senate colleague.

The apology came Thursday morning as both prepared to board their private jets at Washington’s Reagan National Airport to fly to Iowa for the debate. Obama strategist David Axelrod said that Clinton sent an aide over first to say she wanted to speak to Obama, then she walked over herself.

Clinton told Obama she didn’t authorize or approve of the comments from her co-chairman, Bill Shaheen.

Later Thursday, Shaheen resigned as Clinton’s campaign co-chairman.

The campaign issued a statement in his name, which said in part: “I would like to reiterate that I deeply regret my comments yesterday and say again that they were in no way authorized by Senator Clinton or the Clinton campaign.”

The debate offered only one exchange between Clinton and Obama.

When the moderator asked Obama how he, a novice at foreign policy, would foster change when he’s relying on advice from several of former President Bill Clinton’s foreign-policy advisers, Hillary Clinton spoke up from across the stage.

“I want to hear that,” she said, then erupted into loud laughter.

“Well, Hillary,” Obama responded, “I’m looking forward to you advising me as well.”

Throughout the rest of the debate, the candidates all tended to agree with one another, but drew stark contrasts to Republicans by proposing tax increases on the wealthy and spending cuts for the Pentagon.

Several Democrats said they’d raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans by rescinding the tax cuts they received under President Bush with bipartisan support in Congress.

“I want to restore the tax rates that we had in the ‘90s,” said Clinton. “That means raising taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. I want to keep the middle-class tax cuts.”

Obama said he’d close tax loopholes, mentioning one building in the Cayman Islands that’s the home address for 12,000 businesses. “Now, that’s either the biggest building in the world or the biggest tax scam in the world, and I think we know which one it is,” he said.

He said he’d use the cash to pay for a payroll tax cut for those making less than $75,000 a year.

Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware said he would raise taxes on the wealthiest 1 percent. “You can put more into the government by close to $150 billion in tax cuts going to people who don’t need them, will not affect the economy, and they didn’t ask for them.”