Democratic presidential candidates face off in TV debate

In a crowded Democratic presidential primary field, most of the candidates once again went on the offensive against front-runner Howard Dean in yesterday's televised debate.

On a number of occasions, Dean, a former Vermont governor, fended off attacks from his opponents who questioned his policies on Medicare, his position on the situation in Iraq and his actions as governor.

Former United States House of Representatives Democratic Leader Richard Gephardt (D-Mo.) accused Dean of cutting services to those most in need.

In Congress, "we didn't cut [services to] the most vulnerable -- as he did in Vermont," Gephardt said. "He cut Medicaid. He cut the prescription drug program. He cut funding for the blind and the disabled."

Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) quickly chimed in with attacks of his own, repeatedly pressing Dean to promise not to slow the growth of Medicare spending.

"Are you going to slow the growth, Governor? Yes or no?" Kerry asked about a half-dozen times.

Dean attempted to evade the question by saying that, as governor, he had made "hard choices" which helped keep 99 percent of Vermont citizens on health care.

Even while the candidates fought bitterly amongst themselves, it was apparent that they were all united against President George W. Bush.

Several times during the two-hour debate, Rev. Al Sharpton brought the focus back to discussing Bush's record and away from democratic infighting.

"Rather than trying to pin the donkey on each other, we oughta slap the donkey and pin it on George Bush," Sharpton said. "All of [the other Democrats] in their worst night's sleep are better than George Bush."

This Democratic Party unity came out most strongly in condemning Bush's foreign policy and the war on Iraq.

"The president took a legit national security concern, and distorted and abused it. He built a fraudulent coalition," Kerry said.

Gephardt added, "His foreign policy is a miserable failure."

Despite the fact that this is the fifth Democratic primary debate, and that the first voters will be casting their ballots in a matter of months, most Penn students did not watch.

The Penn Democrats did not host an event to watch the debate, and most of their officers did not see it either.

Eight of the nine candidates who have declared their intentions of seeking the presidency participated in the debate in Des Moines, Iowa.

The one candidate who was not present at the debate was Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.). Penn for Clark coordinator Max Cantor did not think that Lieberman's absence was likely to damage his overall campaign, due to a lack of national interest this early in the election cycle.

"The primaries haven't even started yet," he said. "I don't think it's the end of the world for the Lieberman campaign."

Polls indicate that most Americans will likely not start focusing on the Democratic primaries until January, just before the first votes at the Iowa caucuses.

Lieberman did not participate in the debate because he said he wanted to stay in Washington for the Medicare bill proceedings going on there.

His campaign has also decided that it will not focus its energy on the Iowa caucus, instead saving money and effort for the New Hampshire primary and contests in later states.

Kerry and Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) were also in Washington but took part in the debate via satellite.

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