MILWAUKEE-The five remaining Democratic presidential candidates courted Wisconsin primary voters while still seeking to present a united front against President Bush in a presidential debate at Marquette University Sunday night.
The candidate answered questions about the North American Free Trade Agreement, the war in Iraq and Bush's National Guard record, among other policy issues. Front-runner Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., received the bulk of the questions, with challengers Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C., and Gov. Howard Dean batting clean-up.
All of the candidates agreed job growth was the most important issue on the table. Kerry and Dean argued for reforming NAFTA and the corporate tax code, while Edwards and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, and Rev. Al Sharpton spoke out against NAFTA.
Edwards said he opposed NAFTA because he had seen what the loss of manufacturing jobs did to his hometown. He said his father worked in a mill, and he saw what the loss of jobs did to families.
Additionally, the candidates debated the relationship between taxes and health care. Edwards suggested repealing tax cuts for the wealthy to provide coverage for all children, while Kerry said he will reform the system to cover 97 percent of Americans within three years.
Dean had the most ambitious agenda, promising to repeal all Bush's tax cuts, fully fund health care and balance the federal budget.
\Sixty percent of us got $304,"" he said, ""and my question to Wisconsinites is, did your property taxes go up more than $304 because the president cut higher education money? How about your health care premiums ... how about your college tuition?""
Despite their policy differences, the candidates came together to criticize Bush's policies and fitness to lead the country.
While Edwards said the controversy over Bush's military records showed the president may have a problem with character, Kerry said the focus should be on Bush's record now in Iraq.
""I would say that this president regrettably has perhaps not learned some of the lessons of that period of time ... and one of those key lessons is in how you take a nation to war,"" he said. ""I think this president rushed to war. I don't believe he had a plan for winning the peace. I don't think he kept his promises to America.""
Sharpton was more pointed in his criticism of Bush's Iraq policies, suggesting the president had lied, purposely or not, about weapons of mass destruction.
""Clearly, he lied,"" he said. ""Now if he is an unconscious liar, and doesn't realize when he's lying, then we're really in trouble ... why he lied? I think we should give him the rest of his retirement to figure that out and explain to us.\
