Dems swipe at each other over health care

By: Erika Lovley
Sep 20, 2007 11:45 PM EST


Five presidential hopefuls at Thursday night’s AARP forum fielded questions on everything from their plans to overhaul the nation’s health care system to the subprime mortgage crisis.

They took a few pointed shots at each other, but refused to take a stab at one of the major looming factors of the event: the absence of Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois.

Instead, they offered various solutions to repair the nation’s lagging health care system while using the opportunity to slam the Bush Administration in front of the mostly senior citizen audience.

Sen. Hillary Clinton (N.Y.), Gov. Bill Richardson (N.M.) and former Sen. John Edwards (N.C.) all touted the need for universal health care.

“Been there, done that. Fifteen years ago I was advocating for universal health care and it was kind of lonely back then,” said Clinton. Republicans “don’t have a clue or the willingness to move forward on what we are committed to.”