Obama fan's harsh words have Democrats snarling

CARSON CITY, NEV. -- A shouting match between supporters of Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama nearly drowned out an issues forum here Wednesday with most of the party's White House hopefuls.

The dispute centered on harsh comments that DreamWorks movie studio founder David Geffen, an Obama supporter, made about Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, and it worried the Democratic candidates participating in the first forum for the party's 2008 presidential nomination.

One of them, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson, urged all of his foes to sign a pledge to not engage in negative campaigning. "If we're going to win, we're going to have to be positive," he said.

Clinton, during her appearance at the forum, refused to set aside the controversy. "I want to run a very positive campaign, and I sure don't want Democrats or supporters of Democrats to be engaging in the politics of personal destruction," the New York senator said.

She also came to the defense of her husband, former President Bill Clinton, saying, "I believe Bill Clinton was a good president, and I'm very proud of the record of his two terms."

'Polarizing figure'

Clinton's comments came in response to questions from ABC's George Stephanopoulos, who moderated the forum, about Geffen's comments, which appeared in a Maureen Dowd column in The New York Times on Wednesday.

"Not since the Vietnam War has there been this level of disappointment in the behavior of America throughout the world, and I don't think another incredibly polarizing figure, no matter how smart she is and no matter how ambitious she is -- and God knows, is there anybody more ambitious than Hillary Clinton? -- can bring the country together," said Geffen, a former friend of the Clintons.

He added: "Obama is inspirational, and he's not from the Bush royal family or the Clinton royal family."

Obama, who attended a star-studded $1.3 million fundraiser in Beverly Hills hosted by Geffen and other Hollywood figures Tuesday, was the only Democratic presidential candidate who did not attend Wednesday's event. But Robert Gibbs, the campaign communications director for the Illinois senator, issued a statement via e-mail to reporters.

"We aren't going to get in the middle of a disagreement between the Clintons and someone who was once one of their biggest supporters," the statement said. "It is ironic that the Clintons had no problem with David Geffen when he was raising them $18 million and sleeping at their invitation in the Lincoln bedroom."

Clinton communications director Howard Wolfson responded with his own e-mail statement: "While Senator [Obama] was denouncing slash and burn politics yesterday, his campaign's finance chair was viciously and personally attacking Senator Clinton and her husband. If Senator Obama is indeed sincere about his repeated claims to change the tone of our politics, he should immediately denounce these remarks, remove Mr. Geffen from his campaign and return his money."

Geffen does not have a position in the Obama campaign organization.

Even so, Richardson said Obama should denounce Geffen's remarks. "We Democrats don't need that," he said. "These name-callings are not good."

Kinder and gentler jabs

Although Richardson cautioned that "the worst we can do is tear each other down," the other Democrats threw some gentle jabs, mostly at Clinton.

Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, who has renounced his 2002 vote in favor of the war in Iraq, reiterated that he "should never have voted for this war." He said Americans need a leader "who is honest, open and decent, and trying to do the right thing."