KEY POINTS:
CHICAGO - Democratic presidential rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama sparred over relations with Pakistan and Clinton took fire for accepting money from lobbyists during a lively debate before labour activists today.
To the cheers of 17,000 union members at Soldier Field, home of the Chicago Bears football team, Obama defended his recent comments he would strike al Qaeda targets inside Pakistan with or without the approval of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf.
Clinton and fellow Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut questioned Obama's judgment, with Dodd calling the comments "irresponsible."
"You can think big, but remember you shouldn't always say everything you think if you're running for president because it has consequences across the world. And we don't need that right now," Clinton said.
Obama wondered why his judgment was being attacked by Senate rivals who voted to authorise the war in Iraq. Dodd, Clinton, former Sen. John Edwards and Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware all voted to authorise the war.
"I find it amusing that those who helped to authorise and engineer the biggest foreign policy disaster in our generation are now criticising me," Obama, an early opponent of the war, told the union members who gathered in Chicago ahead of a meeting of the AFL-CIO's executive council tomorrow to begin discussion of a presidential endorsement.
The federation requires a two-thirds majority to make an endorsement and is unlikely to reach that threshold this year, with Clinton, Obama and Edwards all enjoying significant pockets of support.
Edwards attacked Clinton as a Washington insider, the continuation of a fight started at a weekend debate where she defended taking money from lobbyists who represent special interests before Congress.
Edwards and Obama are pressing their fellow Democrats to agree to stop taking accepting the funds.
"You will never see a picture of me on the cover of Fortune magazine saying I am the candidate that big corporate America is betting on," Edwards said, referring to a picture of Clinton on the magazine last month. "That is one thing that will never happen. That's one thing you can take to the bank."
Clinton has received more than $US400,000 ($NZ531,702) from lobbyists working for special interest groups, more than any other candidate in either party, according to the Centre for Responsive Politics. Obama has received more than $US60,000.
Clinton, who leads national polls in the Democratic race for the presidential nomination, said she had noticed other candidates using her name a lot.
"I'm here because I think we need to change America and it's not to get in fights with Democrats," she said.
"For 15 years, I have stood up against the right-wing machine and I've come out stronger. So if you want a winner who knows how to take them on, I'm your girl," Clinton said.
Edwards, who trails Clinton and Obama in national polls and is locked in a three-way struggle with them in the crucial kickoff state of Iowa, has pushed particularly hard for union support and made it a key part of his strategy to win the nomination.
- REUTERS
