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Clinton's Apology Is One Of Few Debate Highlights

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By ANNE E. KORNBLUT and DAN BALZ, The Washington Post

Published: December 14, 2007

Updated: 12/14/2007 12:14 am

DES MOINES, Iowa - On a day when campaign advisers hoped the final debate before the Iowa caucuses would help re-establish her as the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton instead offered a formal apology to Sen. Barack Obama and accepted the resignation of a prominent campaign organizer who had raised questions about her rival's use of drugs.

Billy Shaheen, Clinton's New Hampshire co-chairman and the husband of former governor Jeanne Shaheen, said in a statement announcing his resignation that his remarks were "in no way authorized" by Clinton or her campaign.

Even after seeking to downplay Shaheen's comments, Mark Penn, Clinton's chief strategist, used the word "cocaine" in a television appearance late Wednesday, which Obama officials seized on as evidence that the Clinton team was intentionally trying to associate Obama with drug use.

"The issue related to cocaine use is not something the campaign is in any way raising," Penn said on MSNBC's "Hardball."

The uproar overshadowed the last Democratic debate before the caucuses, which was held Thursday afternoon under the auspices of the Des Moines Register and Iowa Public Television.

The debate proved to be a 90-minute respite from the pitched political battle raging here and in New Hampshire. The closest any of the front-running candidates came to engaging with one another was when Clinton alluded to her leading rivals here in Iowa - Obama and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards - by suggesting that she is better equipped to bring the kind of significant change many Democratic voters are looking for in a new president.

"Everybody on this stage has an idea about how to get change. Some believe you get change by demanding it, some believe you get it by hoping for it," she said. "I believe you get it by working hard for change. That's what I've done my entire life. That's what I will do as president."

Edwards said, "We have a small group of entrenched interests, corporate powers, corporate greed, the most wealthy people in America, who are controlling what's happening in the democracy, and we have to take it back starting right here in Iowa."

Clinton, Obama and Edwards are in a virtual three-way tie in Iowa, but Thursday's debate also gave the other top Democrats - New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sens. Joseph Biden of Delaware and Christopher Dodd of Connecticut - an opportunity to make their cases to Iowa voters on the same stage.

Biden drew one of the toughest questions when he was asked by moderator Carolyn Washburn, the Register's editor, about past gaffes that suggested racial and ethnic insensitivity.

Biden responded with an impassioned statement, defending his record and commitment on civil rights issues and claiming his political support in Delaware is built on loyalty from minority voters. "My credentials are as good as anyone who's ever run for president of the United States on civil rights," he said.

Dodd, who has struggled along with Biden and Richardson to win more attention, used a moment in the debate to appeal to Iowans not to be swayed by big money or the media. "This isn't about wealth or celebrity," he said. "It's about choosing the best candidate who can win and who will lead our country."

Finally, each candidate was asked to say a few words about the Iowa caucus process. Richardson told Iowans he liked them because they "like underdogs."

"You don't like the national media and the smarty-pants telling you who's going to be the next president," he said.

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