Morning After Talk

It was their feistiest face-off to date. The Democratic presidential candidates didn't disappoint last night at Drexel U in Philly. In their seventh outing, they did indeed go after the frontrunner, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton. Clinton was hammered hardest by former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards, not Illinois Sen. Barack Obama, as expected.

HRC held up relatively well, save two awkward and dodgy answers to questions about the transparency of National Archives records of her time as First Lady and whether she would back Gov. Eliot Spitzer's plan to give driver's licenses to illegal immigrants.

Both responses, however, provided fodder for her opponents -- and critics at large -- who have charged she is overly calculating, scripted and engages, as Edwards said last night, in double speak. Clinton, on defense most of the night and lacking some of the humor she exhibited in previous debates, saluted Spitzer's proposal for its practical purposes but then pointed out she hadn't actually endorsed the plan. Losing some of her trademark cool, she chided Tim Russert of NBC for playing a "gotcha" game by even asking the license question.

Clinton also faced relentless criticism in the first third of the debate for her Iraq war vote and for voting with three-quarters of the Senate recently to declare Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps a terrorist threat. Her opponents stressed that the Iran vote showed HRC hadn't learned from Iraq, that she was making the same mistake in giving President Bush a powerful reason to engage in military action with Iran.

HRC said she does not believe in a "false choice" between doing nothing and going to war.

"I prefer vigorous diplomacy," she said. "I happen to think economic sanctions are part of a vigorous diplomacy."

Edwards, meanwhile, stepped up where Obama faltered. Looking ever the dogged trial attorney to Obama's sometimes meandering and long-winded law professor, Edwards scored points against Clinton -- chastising her for the Iran vote, for not setting a timetable for withdrawal from Iraq and for not being the change agent the country needs.

With all eyes on Obama entering the contest, he failed to make a strong case either for his candidacy or against Clinton's. He even balked on question one of the evening from NBC's Brian Williams, urging him to draw clear distinctions between him and the senator from New York. Obama said last night's match-up was over-hyped. He did, however, seize on Russert's questioning about the National Archives docs. Clinton's non answer about whether they'd be made public exemplified how difficult it will be for the country to start fresh under a second President Clinton, Obama said.

"Not releasing the records at the same time, Hillary, as you're making the claim that this is the basis for your experience is, I think, a problem," he said. "Part of what we have to do is invite the American people back to participate in our government again."

With all the hoopla surrounding the top three Dems, however, the best line of the night -- and the most overlooked performance -- came from Delaware Sen. Joe Biden. In a slam worthy of yucks from a late-night television crowd, Biden took it to Rudy Giuliani. When asked about Rudy's recent rant that Clinton lacks relevant leadership experience, Biden went after the former New York mayor, not the Democratic frontrunner.

"Rudy Giuliani, probably the most underqualified man since George Bush to seek the presidency," he said, " ... There's only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun, a verb and 911. There's nothing else."

Biden's quip might have smacked of sucking up, a premature play for the veep spot perhaps should she win the nomination, but it was nothing compared with Gov. Bill Richardson's blatant move for Hillary's affections. With Hillary on defense on Iran and Iraq, Richardson jumped to her side.

"I'm hearing this holier than thou attitude towards Senator Clinton, and it's bothering me because it's pretty close to personal attacks. ... We need to be positive in this campaign," he said.

Richardson said it's important that the Democrats save their ammunition for the GOP. Sound familiar?

Dennis Kucinich might have offered a spate of thoughtful positions on gas prices and trade and health insurance, but all that will be remembered from his performance last night was that nutso admission that he did indeed see a U.F.O. over Shirley MacLaine's house. Not sure what was worse, his admission or that Russert actually asked about life on other planets.

Sen. Chris Dodd had a decent outing, but is still having trouble losing that Senate speak. I sponsored this, I drafted that ... He did jump in on the license question and was the one of two people onstage (Mr. U.F.O. was the other) to say ok to legalizing marijuana.

(JENNIFER SKALKA)