CLINTON: I said there may be a continuing counterterrorism mission, which, if it still exists, will be aimed at al Qaeda in Iraq. It may require combat, Special Operations Forces or some other form of that, but the vast majority of our combat troops should be out.
EDWARDS: I would not continue combat missions in Iraq. Combat missions mean that the war is continuing
Q: Would you send combat troops back in if there was genocide?
EDWARDS: I believe that America along with the rest of the world would have a responsibility to respond to genocide. But it’s not something we should do alone.
A: I cannot make that commitment. I can tell you what I would do as president. If there are in fact, as General Petraeus suggests, 100,000 American troops on the ground in Iraq, I will immediately draw down 40,000 to 50,000 troops and, over the course of the next several months, continue to bring our combat troops out of Iraq until all of our combat troops are in fact out of Iraq. I think the problem is, we will maintain an embassy in Baghdad. That embassy has to be protected. We will probably have humanitarian workers in Iraq. They have to be protected. I think somewhere in the neighborhood of a brigade of troops will be necessary to accomplish that--3,500 to 5,000 troops. Everyone up here wants to take a responsible course to end the war in Iraq. And the debate will be between a Democrat who wants to bring the war to an end, & a Republican who wants to continue the war.
A: Yes, absolutely. I want my children to understand everything about the difficulties that gay and lesbian couples are faced with every day, the discrimination that they’re faced with every single day of their lives. Second grade might be a little tough, but even in second grade to be exposed to all of those possibilities because I don’t want to impose my view. Nobody made me God. But what I will do as president is I will lead an effort to make sure that the same benefits that are available to heterosexual couples--1,100, roughly, benefits in the federal government--are available to same-sex couples; that we get rid of DOMA; that we get rid of “don’t ask, don’t tell.”
BIDEN: Absolutely no, I would not. The cost of alcoholism in America, the cost of accidents that flow from drunkenness, are astronomical.
DODD: No, I agree with Joe on this. The problems associated with alcohol are significant in our country. The evidence is overwhelming..
RICHARDSON: No, I wouldn’t lower it. I think you need a dual approach: strong law enforcement, but you also have to have substance abuse treatment.
GRAVEL: I think we should lower it. Anybody that can go fight and die for this country should be able to drink.
KUCINICH: Of course they should be able to drink at age 18, and they should be able to vote at age 16.
Q: No on 18?
OBAMA: No.
EDWARDS: What was the question?
Q: Lower the drinking age to 18?
EDWARDS: I would not.
BIDEN: Yes. I would ban--in all public [places], nationally.
DODD: 3,000 kids start smoking every day in this country.
RICHARDSON: I did it in New Mexico as a national law.
KUCINICH: You bet I’ll go for a national law.
Q: So Biden, Dodd, Richardson, Gravel and Kucinich in favor of a national law.
EDWARDS: Wait, wait, wait, and Edwards.
A: Yes.
Q: Would you be in favor of developing more nuclear power here in the United States?
A: No.
Q: Period?
A: No. So that was less than 30 seconds.
A: That’s true and so has America. I proposed universal health care for children at that point. What happened in ‘94 is we didn’t get universal health care, but we got NAFTA. And when I’m president, you have my word I will never pull the universal health care bill. I will making sure that’s enacted.
Edwards’ legislative plans would have been more accurately portrayed as asking Congress either to grant health care to all citizens or give it up for themselves.
KUCINICH: Of course we ought to be raising the cap in order to protect Social Security. And in addition, we should be thinking about lowering the retirement age to 65. People’s bodies break down.
DODD: You could do this by basically readjusting that tax so it doesn’t have to affect everyone in society.
Q: But you’d raise the cap to $500,000?
DODD: You’ve got to raise it up, clearly, to do this.
A: No, sir, you cannot. You cannot solve this problem just by setting up a bipartisan commission. All of us are for that. You cannot solve this problem just by growing the economy. All of us are for that. But the American people deserve to hear the truth. They have heard so much politician double-talk on this issue. That’s the reason young people don’t believe Social Security’s going to be there for them. Why would you possibly trust a bunch of politicians who say the same thing over and over--“We’re going to grow our way out of this”--but nothing changes. The honest truth is there are hard choices to be made here. The choice I would make as president is on the cap. But I don’t understand why somebody who makes $50 million a year pays Social Security tax on the first $97,000, and not all the rest, while somebody who makes $85,000 a year pays Social Security tax on every dime of their income.
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The above quotations are from Democratic Presidential Debate on MSNBC, moderated by Tim Russert, at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, Sept. 26, 2007.
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