US: Democratic presidential contenders Mr John Kerry and Mr John Edwards battled during a boisterous debate yesterday over trade policy and their ability to change Washington, but united to criticise President George W. Bush's handling of the crisis in Haiti.
Two days before a potentially decisive "Super Tuesday" showdown in 10 states, the two prime contenders for the Democratic nomination noted the fall of Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and accused Mr Bush of ignoring the Caribbean nation until it was too late.
"This president always makes decisions late after things have happened that could have been different had the president made a different decision earlier," Mr Kerry said. "I never would have allowed it to get out of control the way it did." Mr Aristide fled Haiti on Sunday morning, 24 days after a bloody uprising began against his rule.
"He's ignored Haiti the same way he's ignored most of the countries in this hemisphere," Mr Edwards said of President Bush. "We should have been engaged over a long period of time, in a serious way, at least through diplomacy, not to allow this to get to a crisis situation where it now is."
Mr Kerry has dominated the Democratic race with 18 victories in the first 20 contests, and another blowout on Tuesday could put the nomination in reach and Mr Edwards' candidacy in doubt.
The 10 states include big prizes like California, New York and Ohio and have 1,151 delegates at stake, more than half of the 2,162 needed to win. Mr Kerry would not have enough delegates to win the nomination with another dominating performance, but Mr Edwards would have little incentive to push on.
Mr Kerry hopes to finish off Mr Edwards' candidacy with a coast-to-coast sweep, while Mr Edwards is hoping for wins in Georgia, Minnesota or Ohio that could keep his hopes alive until the March 9th contests in a string of southern states.
Mr Edwards was more aggressive than in Thursday's debate in Los Angeles, working harder to point out the differences with Mr Kerry and accusing him of "the same old Washington talk that people have been listening to for decades". A freshman senator from North Carolina, he has touted his working class background, and said Mr Kerry, a four-term Senate veteran, was too much of a Washington insider.
"Do you believe we're going to change this country out of Washington, D.C.?" he asked Mr Kerry.
"Yes, because that's where the Congress of the United States is, and that's where 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is," Mr Kerry said. "And the answer is, we're going to need a president who has the experience and the proven ability - proven ability - to be able to stand up and take on tough fights."
Mr Edwards, who has made his opposition to trade pacts like the North American Free Trade Agreement that Mr Kerry supported a centrepiece of his campaign, rejected Mr Kerry's charge that their trade positions are essentially the same. Mr Kerry, ranked by National Journal recently as the most liberal member of the US Senate, refused to accept the characterization, saying "labels are so silly in American politics".
- Reuters