The Democratic presidential candidates met at a debate Monday in Myrtle Beach, S.C. in preparation for Saturday’s upcoming primary election.

The event took place at Myrtle Beach’s Palace Theatre and was hosted by the Congressional Black Caucus Institute.

It was held at a pivotal time in the state, as the South Carolina’s Democratic primary will be the first Democratic primary to vote in the South during this election.

Monday night’s debate could prove to be extremely important when South Carolinians hit the polls.

“It might help people finally decide how to vote,” South Carolinian Gayle Elvington said of the debate.

“They don’t have their minds made up,” Myrtle Beach resident Maxine Burgess said of South Carolina’s voters. “They need to be persuaded.” Attending the debate were Sen. Hillary Clinton, who has won the New Hampshire, Michigan and Nevada state primaries; Sen. Barack Obama, winner of the fi rst Democratic primary in Iowa and Sen. John Edwards, who trails Clinton and Obama with no state primary wins yet.

One of Obama’s main selling points was his ability to “redraw the political map” and recruit Republicans and Independents during the general election in November. He stated that his ability to “expand the scope of the electorate” may account for some of the record turnouts in this election, by inspiring people who didn’t vote in the past at all.

Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. repeated the same point after the debate, stating that one of Obama’s greatest strengths is his capacity to bring in both Independents and Republicans. He stated that Democrats are not large enough to win the election, making Independent and Republican votes for Obama particularly important.

Clinton’s approach, on the other hand, was to repeatedly emphasize her experience, noting that Republicans had been “after her” for 16 years, and that she has “withstood the full force of corporate lobbyists.”

“I’m used to taking the incoming fi re,” Clinton said. “I’ve been taking it for 16 years. When you get into this arena, you can’t expect to have a handsoff attitude about your record.” The debate became heated at times, with Obama and Clinton interrupting each other and cutting each other off to hurl subtle insults and biting jabs about past records.

“Hillary, you went on for two minutes,” Obama told her at one point. “Let me fi nish.”

Edwards called the Obama-Clinton attacks “squabbling.”

All three of the candidates took note of the fact that John McCain will most likely win the Republican primary, meaning that Democratic voters must select the candidate who is the best positioned against McCain.

The candidates targeted McCain at several points, including a discussion of his stance on Iraq and its flaws. Clinton emphasized giving the young Iraqi government a deadline, while Obama’s stance was “as quickly as we can safely.” Edwards stated that his goal was to have all troops out by the end of his first year in office.

On economic issues, Clinton spoke about specific fi xes for the mortgage crisis, while Obama emphasized tax cuts which would put cash in Americans’ pocket “right away.” Edwards, on the other hand, focused on longer-term economic policies like investment in “greener” infrastructures to create “green-collar jobs.”

With the debate taking place on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, race became a talking point among the three candidates, as well. Clinton spoke on her “hero” Frederick Douglas and Edwards described

the racial inequality he saw in New Orleans when he announced his campaign. Obama stated that even though gender and race shouldn’t affect who people vote for, Americans should not ignore issues of racial equality, particularly in the criminal justice system.

The candidates also addressed the issue of Bill Clinton’s role in his wife’s campaign. Senator Clinton called her husband a “tremendous asset” and reiterated that the campaign is “not about our spouses, but about us.”

Obama complained that both Bill and Hillary have been making untrue claims about his record, and when the debate became particularly heated, he made an even more direct statement about Bill: “I can’t tell who I’m running against sometimes.”

The North Carolina primary election will take place May 6.

Reporter: Alyse Knorr - 01/23/07