Candidates get aggressive, but civilly

Five weeks before the primaries begin, presidential contenders are taking some substantial swipes at one another.

from the November 29, 2007 edition

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When Governor Richardson leapt to Senator Clinton's defense in a recent Democratic debate, the whispers that he was currying favor with a potential nominee were hard to miss.

Still, Richardson is also showing signs that he's willing to make a mild dig at Clinton's high negatives. In a recent fundraising letter, Richardson warned against nominating a candidate whom the "Republicans can successfully poison for a majority of voters." He added: "It is possible to elect the most qualified candidate, not just the one who is the most well-known or well-funded."

Former Senator Edwards has taken a sharper-edged approach to campaigning than he did four years ago, when he ran for president and wound up on the Democratic ticket as John Kerry's running mate. But he sees no problem with being aggressive about drawing contrasts on issues. In fact, he sees value in it.

"Having been through a general election, I mean, if anybody including Senator Clinton, thinks this is mudslinging – this is milquetoast compared to what we're going to see next fall," Edwards said recently on CBS's "Face the Nation." "We need to have a candidate who's actually ready for that battle."

Indeed, candidates in both parties are predicting that the general election will get as nasty as the last one, and that the relatively civilized tone of the primaries bespeaks a desire not to damage the eventual nominees – while both sides quietly gather ammunition for the general.

Meanwhile, the back-and-forth between the top tier candidates is enough to fill up an inbox overnight, as they charge and countercharge each other over their records. Romney raised the decibel level this week with charges that Giuliani is "very much like Hillary Clinton."

"He's pro-choice like Hillary Clinton. He's pro-gay civil union like Hillary Clinton. He's pro-sanctuary cities like she is…." Romney said in a Fox News Radio interview.

Giuliani has been pounding Romney over his appointment of a judge in Massachusetts who ordered the release of a convicted killer from prison, who is now charged with another killing. Romney has called for the judge's resignation.

On the Democratic side, the top rivals have been duking it out over healthcare. Obama's plan does not include a mandate that all people buy insurance, while Clinton's does. On the experience question, Obama got big news coverage when he questioned how Clinton's years as first lady would qualify her to be president. "My understanding was that she wasn't treasury secretary in the Clinton administration," Obama said.

Political analysts see Obama coming out ahead in such an exchange, as it punctures Clinton's attempts to portray herself as the inevitable nominee.

"It may make Obama seem a little less like a saint, but as doubts begin to creep up about Hillary .... it could hurt her," says Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate at American University.

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