Dems Wrangle Over Health, Iraq

A week before the make-or-break primaries in Texas and Ohio, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama  sparred wearily, sometimes testily, in their 20th and perhaps last debate, on issues from health care to Iraq to who is more committed to Israel, MSNBC reports. Clinton blasted a recent Obama mailer that said her health plan would force lower-income Americans to buy health care; Obama defended the flier and derided her complaint, saying she has "constantly" attacked his campaign but "we haven't whined about it."

The hopefuls traded heated barbs over Iraq. Clinton said that Obama's anti-war stance lacks "credibility" because he was not in the Senate to vote against it; Obama retorted that Clinton "was ready to give in to George Bush from day one on this critical issue." Hillary presented herself as a fighter; Barack defended his role as an inspirer, saying "it is important to inspire and motivate and mobilize the American people" to get things done in Washington. "There's nothing romantic or silly about that." (More Barack Obama stories.)