Hillary Clinton in Lead After First Televised Debate for Democrat Frontrunner

Photo of Hillary Clinton courtesy of THE TIMES

TIMESONLINE: A crisp and sure-footed performance by Hillary Clinton last night appeared to confirm her status as the frontrunner - by a narrow margin - for the Democratic presidential nomination after the first televised debate with her rivals.

She was helped by a format for questioning all eight candidates which allowed little time for dwelling on any issue, including that of Iraq on which she has faced criticism from Democratic activists over her refusal to apologise for voting to authorise the war.

Instead, the tone of last night's debate was polite to the point of being lacklustre, as the top tier candidates - Mrs Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards - avoided the risk of direct confrontation with each other.

"I think that what Barack said is right," was Mrs Clinton's only direct reference to her chief opponent last night. A Wall Street Journal poll this week had her still in the lead with 36 per cent support, against the gathering challenge of Mr Obama at 31 per cent and Mr Edwards at 20 per cent. Clinton edges ahead after first Democratic debate (Read on) by Tom Baldwin

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Mark Alexander