Sept. 27, 2007: Russert moderates Democratic debate at Dartmouth

HANOVER – All eight Democratic candidates for President took the stage at Dartmouth College last night for the sixth debate of the primary election season.

Moderator Tim Russert, NBC's Washington bureau chief and host of "Meet the Press," started off by asking all the candidates if they would commit to getting all U.S. troops out of Iraq by January 2013.

Sen. Chris Dodd said he would; the rest of the field was hesitant to commit.

"I believe that we should have all our troops out by 2013, but I don't want to make promises, not knowing what the situation's going to be three or four years out," Illinois Sen. Barack Obama said, adding later that he would begin to bring one to two brigades home each month if elected.

Presidential hopefuls Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Obama, Edwards, Kucinich, Clinton and Gravel debated in Hanover last night. (AP)

Sen. Hillary Clinton, who recent polls cast as the Democratic frontrunner, said counterterrorism missions should continue in Iraq, though she would pull most troops out.

In the debate about Iraq, U.S. Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, whose nonbinding plan to divide Iraq into three regions with a decentralized capital passed by a wide margin in the Senate yesterday, took center stage. Clinton and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson commended the plan, which would separate Iraq into Kurd, Sunni and Shia sections.

"If in fact there is no political solution by the time I am president, then I would bring (the troops) out, because all they are is fodder," Biden said.

Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama responded similarly to a question about whether they would commit to stopping Iran from becoming a nuclear power by any means necessary. Both said Republicans have bypassed diplomacy in favor of a potential military solution, and peaceful talks should precede any military action.

Asked about his relatively limited political experience, Obama said what matters is his ability to bring people together to incite change.

"We need someone who can take on the special interests and win, and I have consistently done that," he said.

Richardson positioned himself early on as the candidate who combines the experience of a candidate like Clinton and the vision for change that Obama brings to the race.

"With Bill Richardson, you get both: change and experience," he said.

A question about whether the candidates would eliminate sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants was first posed to Richardson.

"You asked me because I'm the Hispanic here, but I'll answer," he said, explaining that he would institute a more comprehensive plan for immigration reform.

None of the candidates would commit to eliminating the sanctuary cities. Clinton said local law enforcement has an obligation to investigate local crimes, and enforcing federal immigration laws often hampers their efforts to do so.

Most of the Democratic candidates have laid out a plan for universal health care in one form or another. Clinton spoke of her failed attempts at reform in the 1990s and said she plans to make health care a priority if she's elected.

"You see a lot of people with those stickers that say, 'I'm a health care voter.' Well, I want to be a health care president," she said.

Sen. John Edwards said he would cut health care insurance to lawmakers if they refused to pass health care reform measures under his leadership.

"There is no excuse for politicians in Washington to have health care when Americans don't have health care," he said.

Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Kucinich, Gravel, and Edwards all said they would favor a national law that would prohibit smoking in all public places. Clinton said she would opposed such a measure, while Obama said he would consider a national law only if the state laws don't have a positive effect on the public health and the economy.

"If it turns out that we're not seeing enough progress at the local level, then I would favor a national law," he said.

With the exception of Richardson, the candidates said they would favor lifting the cap on the Social Security tax to preserve and protect the system for future generations. Rep. Dennis Kucinich said that in addition, he would institute a protection zone for people with income between $97,000 and $200,000.

Toward the end of the debate, Russert presented candidates with a hypothetical scenario. Would they allow the torture of a terrorist if he knew the location of a bomb that was set to explode somewhere in the United States in three days? All the candidates said they would under no circumstances sanction torture.

"I think that diminishes us, and it sends the wrong message to the world," Biden said.

Hundreds of candidate supporters, protesters, students, spectators and members of the media drifted in and out of the green at the center of Dartmouth's campus in the hours preceding the debate. Obama and Clinton had the strongest showings among the supporters chanting on the green, but the Biden campaign also had a visible presence.

NBC-TV, the New England Cable News Network, the Democratic National Committee and the New Hampshire Democratic Party co-sponsored the debate with Dartmouth.