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Politics

Democrats speak on God, war and the economy

Democratic presidential candidates said Sunday they favor more federal action to address economic woes from a housing slump and tighter credit. Here are other topics from their 90-minute debate from Drake University in Iowa:

Joe Biden

On the Iraq war: "Look, the fundamental disagreement I have with my colleagues up here is that they seem to cling to the fundamental strategic mistake that everyone on both sides plays to, and that is that there is any possibility in the lifetime of anyone here of having the Iraqis get together, have a unity government in Baghdad that pulls the country together."

Hillary Rodham Clinton

On the power of prayer: "Well, I don't pretend to understand the wisdom and the power of God. I do believe in prayer. And I have relied on prayer consistently throughout my life. You know, I like to say that, if I had not been a praying person before I got to the White House, after having been there for just a few days I would've become one."

Chris Dodd

On performance pay for teachers: "I'm not in favor necessarily of giving more preference for a teacher that's performing somewhat better. Measuring that I think is the wrong direction we're going in."

John Edwards

On trade agreements: "In an Edwards administration, the first question I will ask in every single trade agreement we're considering is: 'Is this good for middle-class working families in America?' ... And, second, we will have real labor and environmental standards in the text of the agreement, which I will enforce. We will have protections against currency manipulation, which the Chinese are engaged in right now. And then finally - finally - we will end these loopholes that actually create tax incentives for companies to leave America."

Mike Gravel

On power of prayer: "Courage permits us all to apply the virtues that are important in life. And so you can pray - I was always persuaded or struck by the fact that many people who pray are the ones who want to go to war, who want to kill fellow human beings. That disturbs me."

Dennis Kucinich

On the Iraq war: "We can talk about George Bush driving a bus into a ditch, but let's not forget there was a Democratic Senate in charge that okayed the war. And those senators who are up on this stage helped to authorize that war and they have to take responsibility for that. Likewise, they have to take responsibility for funding the war. You say you're opposed to it, but you keep funding it."

Barack Obama

On U.S. challenges: "We all agree that the last six years have been disastrous for America, both at home and abroad. But the fact is that the big challenges we face, whether it's health care or a bold energy strategy or schools that aren't producing young people that can compete on the global stage, those are problems that predate the Bush administration. They're not just Republican problems. They're Democratic problems and American problems."

Bill Richardson

On education: "I have proposed a minimum wage for our teachers, $40,000 per year. I also have a one-point plan, like I do on Iraq, on No Child Left Behind: Scrap it. ... You know, we are 29th in the world in math and science. We need to have 100,000 new math and science teachers. We have to be No. 1 again."

[Last modified August 19, 2007, 23:55:03]