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Clinton, Obama come out swinging in debate

MYRTLE BEACH, South Carolina (CNN) -- Monday night's Democratic debate quickly turned into a back-and-forth between rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

The two Democratic front-runners took shots at each others' economic plans and criticized the accuracy of recent accusations the two campaigns have traded.

Obama said Clinton's charge that fiscal responsibility isn't a priority for him "isn't true."

"This is one of the things that has happened in the course of this campaign. There are a set of assertions made by Sen. Clinton as well as her husband that are not factually accurate," Obama said, raising the criticisms the Clintons made about him in recent days.

"Part of what the people are looking for right now is somebody who is going to solve problems and not resort to the same typical politics that we've seen in Washington," he said.

Clinton replied she was referring to differences in Obama's position toward the Iraq war. "It was more about the distinction between words and action. And I think that is a fair assessment for voters to make," she said.

Clinton said it is "sometimes difficult to understand what Sen. Obama has said because as soon as he is confronted on it he says that's not what he meant."

Former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards jumped in, saying "Are there three people in this debate, not two?"

CNN I-Reporters, providing their reaction to the debate, responded negatively to the bickering tone between Clinton and Obama.

"I am proud that Sen. Edwards is taking the high road and making himself stand out from the bickering senators, Clinton and Obama. We don't need blame for our troubles, we need solutions," wrote David Parker of San Jose, California.

"The two leading candidates are getting closer to nothing -- they will lose the election to Republican Party if they keep talking in such a way," wrote Duop Chak of Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The candidates are facing off in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, five days before the state's Democratic primary.

CNN political analyst Bill Schneider said this could be a debate "where John Edwards gets back in the game."

"He's effectively making his points, while Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are in silly squabbles. Voters have too many concerns to care about Obama and Clinton's political potshots," Schneider said.

Edwards said ending poverty is "the cause of my life."

"Now, fiscal responsibility, which I think was the question. It was a little hard to tell there at the end of that. But I think the question was about fiscal responsibility," he said.

"I have proposed, I think, the most aggressive, most progressive agenda of the three of us up here," he said.

The debate, put together by CNN and the Congressional Black Caucus Institute, offers the candidates a chance to drill down on the issues, said David Bohrman, senior vice president and Washington bureau chief.

On the issue of Iraq, Clinton was asked if she is looking to end the war or win it.

"I'm looking to bring our troops home, starting within 60 days of my becoming president," she said. "There is no military solution, and our young men and women should not remain as the referees of their conflict."

Edwards said within his first year as president he would have all combat troops out of Iraq and there would be no permanent military bases in Iraq.

"I have not heard either of them say that definitively," he said.

Obama responded saying, "I want to be as careful getting out as we were careless getting in, but I want to make sure that we get all of our combat troops out as quickly as we can safely."

CNN's Wolf Blitzer is moderating and CNN's Suzanne Malveaux and Joe Johns are asking questions. Video Watch the crew get ready for Monday's debate »

Blitzer asked CNN viewers to submit ideas for debate questions.

Hundreds said they wanted to see questions that focus on change, a theme that has had a major presence in the Democratic and Republican campaigns.

"We need someone in the White House who will not only lead, but who will help heal the rifts between Americans," one person wrote.

Other submissions focused on the economy, health care, education and the continuing problems of race in the United States.

The debate, which falls on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, comes as Clinton and Obama have been entangled in racially charged exchanges.

After "bruising campaign tactics," Clinton needs to show she can unify the party, said Democratic strategist Jamal Simmons.

"There's all this rolling around inside the Democratic party that we really just haven't seen in a long time. So she's got to find a way to say to the Democrats, 'Listen, we know we've been rough-and-tumble, but it's time for us all to get back together,' " Simmons said.

Obama, on the other hand, needs to "get out of the muck."

"He's a unifier, so he's got to unify," Simmons said. "He's got to present a case to the American people that ... our problems are not black problems or white problems, they are American problems."

Edwards, who has been a distant third in most polls, "really does have to prove why it is he should still be in these debates," Simmons said.

"You have to win someplace, you have to show someplace," he said.

So far in the Democratic contests, Clinton, a senator from New York, has won New Hampshire, Nevada and Michigan. In Michigan, she was the only major candidate on the ballot. Obama, a senator from Illinois, won in Iowa.

Edwards finished second in Iowa, but he has yet to win any states.

After a distant third-place finish in the Nevada caucuses, Edwards Sunday made light of his performance.

On CNN's "Late Edition With Wolf Blitzer," Edwards said he hopes "what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas," admitting, "I got my butt kicked."

Edwards would like to rebound in South Carolina, his native state. He won the primary there in 2004 when he was making his first bid for the White House.

Each of the candidates is trying to gain the support of the state's African-Americans, who make up almost half of the Democratic primary voters.

The majority of South Carolina black Democrats are leaning toward Obama, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Friday.

The poll suggests nearly 60 percent of black registered Democrats were backing Obama as the presidential nominee, with 31 percent supporting Clinton.

That's a major shift from October, when African-Americans backed Clinton over Obama, 57 percent to 33 percent.